The NHL's salary cap next season could be right back to where it was before the lockout, way up at $70 million, according to TSN insider Bob McKenzie. This isn't exactly breaking news, but it is the first time we've heard someone who has connections with the league admit how much the cap will be rising.
James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail wrote at the end of November that the new Canadian broadcast rights deal will have a big impact on the salary cap, and $70 million is a conservative number going forward. The large influx of cash into the NHL's coffers could see a $100 million cap ceiling by the time the current CBA expires.
This is great news for teams like the Maple Leafs, Rangers and Canadiens, which can afford to spend to the cap and have players up for contract, whom they'll need to pay handsomely over the next few years. How lower-budget teams will handle the ever-increasing cap remains up in the air.
The increased revenue-sharing program instituted by the NHL and NHLPA in the current CBA may alleviate some of those concerns, though.
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