NHL’s salary cap way lower than first expected!

If the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights weren’t feeling the heat already, now they will and be suffocated on top of that…  

The NHL salary cap for next season will be between $81.5 and $82 million, which is at least $1 million lower than initially projected, The Associated Press has confirmed on Friday ahead of the Draft in Vancouver. 

“The figure was disclosed Friday by a person with direct knowledge of the situation to the AP on condition of anonymity because it hasn’t been formally finalized and isn’t expected to be released until Saturday. The Athletic first reported the figures.”

This is not what teams across the league were hoping, especially after the salary cap increased to $83 million from $79.5 million last season. Falling below $82 million would represent just over a $2 million rise from this year's $79.5 million cap after  NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced in December the salary cap was expected to rise by $3.5 million.

Teams will have no choice but to shed salary and that will be quite the challenge!