NHL reported to be changing salary cap in next two seasons

According to new reports from NHL insider David Pagnotta, the salary cap will not be unexpectedly increased for next season, but will jump by $2M in 2025-26.

This upcoming season, teams across the league will feel a little bit of salary relief as the cap will increase over $4M from the 2023-24 season. For 2024-25, the increase will be even more, and increase of $4.3M, to a total of $92M per team.

This massive increase in the NHL salary cap after the COVID seasons has been extremely welcome by many teams, and it's expected the cap will continue to increase even more after the current CBA expires after the 2025-26 season. As long as there's no lockout, the future of the NHL is seriously looking up with a growing salary cap.

For the Edmonton Oilers, these cap increases couldn't come at a better time. The team needs to sign Leon Draisaitl to a long term contract, giving him a hefty raise up from his current salary of $8M. After Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard will be up for their contracts, both commanding serious raises.

The only downside to the cap rising for teams is that players and their agents are aware as well, and are seeking higher salaries. However, with the cap rising as it is, if the Oilers can get a few bad contracts off the books like Jack Campbell and Darnell Nurse, they'll be smooth sailing.