The NHL salary cap, explained (2026-27)
- The 2026-27 salary cap is $104 million, up from $95.5M. Every team must also spend at least the $76.9 million floor.
- No player can earn more than $20.8 million a year (20% of the cap). The minimum salary is $850,000.
- What counts is a player's cap hit: the average yearly value of his contract.
- Under the new collective bargaining agreement the cap now applies in the playoffs too, which closes the old long-term injury loophole.
Cap hit, not salary
A player's cap hit is his contract's total value divided by its years. A player signed for 8 years and $80 million counts $10 million against the cap every season, even if he's paid $14 million in one year and $6 million in another. Teams manage the cap hit; owners pay the actual salary.
The ceiling, the floor and the maximum
| Upper limit (cap) | $104.0 million |
|---|---|
| Lower limit (floor) | $76.9 million |
| Maximum cap hit for one player | $20.8 million (20% of the cap) |
| League minimum salary | $850,000 (rising to $900,000 in 2027-28, $950,000 in 2028-29 and $1 million in 2029-30) |
The cap keeps rising. The league's projection for 2027-28 is $113.5 million, which is why teams have been happy to sign long contracts lately: today's big cap hit becomes a smaller share of the cap each year.
Contract length and shape
From 2026-27, a team can re-sign its own player for up to seven years, and sign another team's free agent for up to six (down from eight and seven). New contracts also can't swing much from year to year: salary can change by at most 20% of the first year's pay, so heavily front- or back-loaded deals are out.
Long-term injured reserve (LTIR)
When a player is expected to miss a long stretch, his team can go over the cap to replace him while he's out. The new agreement tightens this. Full relief is reserved for players ruled out for the regular season and the playoffs, and a player who might return during the season brings only limited relief. Because the cap now applies to the 20 players dressed in each playoff game, a team can no longer "activate" a big contract for the playoffs and ice a lineup far over the cap.
Other ways teams make room
- Retaining salary in a trade: a team can keep up to half of a player's cap hit when it trades him, on a limited number of contracts at once. Under the new agreement, a player can't have salary retained again within 75 regular-season games of a trade.
- Buyouts: a team can end a contract early, paying part of the remaining money, spread over twice the remaining years. The cap hit shrinks but lingers as "dead cap".
- The minors: sending a player down removes most, but not all, of his cap hit.
Who's tight and who has room (2026-27)
Tightest to the cap right now: New York Rangers ($1.81M over), Florida Panthers ($1.57M over), Columbus Blue Jackets ($1.25M over). Most room: Vancouver Canucks ($33.7M), San Jose Sharks ($24.5M), Calgary Flames ($19.5M). Figures as of October 20, 2026; see every team's cap space.
Try it yourself
In PuckBoss you run a real NHL team under the real $104.0M cap: every signing and trade has to fit, and you can retain salary, buy players out and use LTIR like a real GM. Your Assistant GM keeps the roster legal until you want control.