The NHL salary cap is projected to rise to $113.5 million in 2027-28.

The NHL and NHLPA made a massive announcement on Friday regarding the salary cap. After years of stagnant or minimal growth, the NHL's salary cap will rise by $7.5 million next season, with the ceiling increasing from $88 million to $95.5 million. The two parties also announced projected growth up until 2027-28, with the projected ceiling in three seasons being $113.5 million.

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Like all teams in the NHL that spend close to the ceiling, this growth will help the Vancouver Canucks. Not only will it allow the organization to negotiate new contracts with core players, but it should also help with trades, as the cap percentage on players with long-term deals will significantly decrease. Overall, these significant salary cap increases show that the league is in a good place financially and will provide GMs with the ability to budget their salary cap for the next three seasons. 

As of January 31, 2025, the Canucks have a projected $18,982,500 in cap space heading into the 2025 offseason. At the moment, Vancouver has seven free agents who will need new contracts, with the biggest names being Brock Boeser, Pius Suter and Kevin Lankinen. While Suter and Lankinen are both projected under $4 million for next season, projections have Boeser at over $8 million, which would be the second-highest cap hit on the team next season. 

For this exercise, let's say that Boeser's next contract carries an AAV of $8.5 million. Under the $88 million salary cap, Boeser would account for just under 9.7% of the cap. With the $7.5 million increase to $95.5 million, that percentage drops to 8.9% and by 2027-28, it would fall to 7.5% percent. For reference, 8.9% of the cap this season would be the same cap hit of Alex DeBrincat, which is $7.875 million, while 7.5% would be just below where Boeser is currently at with his $6.65 million cap hit. 

While the decision to re-sign Boeser is massive, the big contract coming up in Quinn Hughes, who will be a free agent after the 2026-27 season. Based on the way Hughes is currently playing, he is going to be one of the top-paid players in the league, which would be a significant increase from his current $7.85 million hit. With the rise in the cap, Vancouver can now feel confident that they can give Hughes essentially a blank cheque while worrying less about cap issues that may occur if Hughes re-signs. 

As mentioned, the cap increase should also help facilitate some trades leading up to the trade deadline. Now that GMs have an idea of what the cap will look like, some long-term deals look less daunting than before. This also applies to players who have two to four years less, as organizations might be able to take on the smaller-term, high-cap-hit contracts because they know what the salary cap will be. 

A good example of this scenario is J.T. Miller, who has been mentioned constantly in trade rumours. Miller's $8 million cap hit currently accounts for 9.1% of the cap. Next season, that percentage drops to 8.4%, while in 2027-28, when he will be 34/35 with two years left on his current contract, his cap percentage will be 7%. With teams now having an idea of what his cap percentage will look like over the next three seasons, there could be more willingness to take on his contract, which could increase his trade value. 

In the end, the increased salary cap will be beneficial to the Canucks. That being said, GM Patrik Allvin and his team still need to be careful with their spending, as agents and players will now be asking for larger contracts, thanks to the increase in the salary cap. Ultimately, it will be interesting to see how Vancouver manages their salary cap for the next few seasons, as opportunities to add high-end players could open up across the league.

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