The NHL begins the 2023-24 season primed for the consistent, sizable growth of its salary cap after breaking out of a dormant period brought on by the pandemic.

From 2019-22, the cap remained flat at $81.5 million, but last season, it increased by $1 million. It’s doing the same this year, sitting at $83.5 million — the highest in league history.

But next year, players’ remaining escrow debt owed to owners — currently $50 million — will in all likelihood be fully paid off, allowing for higher cap increases from season to season. 

The NHL believes the cap could rise to $88 million for 2024-25, and an early estimate for the 2025-26 season is $92 million, according to Cap Friendly. 

The salary cap boost is a welcome sign for many teams looking to spend more and up their competitiveness on the ice. Overall, the league expects to bring in $6.2 billion in total revenue this season. 

Players are starting to feel the benefits of professional hockey’s ascendance. This offseason, the Boston Bruins signed forward David Pastrnak to an eight-year, $90 million contract extension that represented the sixth-largest deal in NHL history.

The NHL is entering the third year of new media rights deals with ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (formerly Turner Sports at the time they were signed), reportedly bringing in more than $600 million annually. Both the deals run through 2028.

The Chicago Blackhawks enter this NHL season with new hope thanks to the arrival of rookie sensation Connor Bedard, the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft — and who many project to be a generational prospect.

After winning three Stanley Cups last decade, the Blackhawks have missed the playoffs three seasons in a row and five out of the last six. But Bedard’s arrival has sparked the anticipation of improvement on the ice — with the kind of financial boosts that accompany it.

The team has nearly doubled its season ticket base from last year and is expecting a 10% increase in total tickets sold, according to ESPN. Meanwhile, the team is expecting at least a 17% increase in tickets sold and 26% higher revenue growth over their initial projections for the 2023-24 season.

The Bedard hype started as soon as the Blackhawks won the NHL Draft lottery — the team sold $5.2 million in season tickets in the ensuing 12 hours.

But while the anticipation is high in Chicago, local fans will have to wait to get a firsthand look at Bedard. After their season opener at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, the Blackhawks have four more road games before their home opener against the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 21.

At sportsbooks, Bedard is the overwhelming favorite to win the Calder Trophy (NHL Rookie of the Year), but even with the hopeful superstar, the Blackhawks are near the bottom of the league for projected points totals and in the odds to win the Stanley Cup.

We’ll see no expansion teams this NHL season, but speculation is growing that the league will soon explore further growth beyond its current 32 teams.

Last month, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly made some surprising but supportive comments about the perceived viability of professional hockey in Atlanta, sparkling new hope for the city that has twice seen an NHL team relocate for greener pastures.

Atlanta developers are considering a $1 billion project that includes an arena fit for an NHL team, among other uses. One report recently suggested that the project received state approvals — and that Atlanta appears to be the “leader of the pack” for NHL expansion among cities currently without a viable arena.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wouldn’t confirm that expansion is imminent, but also wouldn’t shut down the idea. “We’re not there,” Bettman said. “We’re just getting expressions of interest.”

Bettman said a potential expansion fee would simply be “a lot.” The Seattle Kraken’s owners paid a record $650 million to enter the league in 2021. Vegas Golden Knights ownership paid $500 million in 2016 and debuted in 2017.

Houston, Salt Lake City, and Quebec City are other markets linked to possible NHL expansion.

North America’s Top Dog

Any further expansion would make the NHL larger than the rest of North America’s Big Five.

The NFL held that title by itself until the NHL added Seattle to make 32 teams. The NBA and MLB currently sit at 30 teams, but both are exploring expansion in the coming years.

MLS currently has 29 teams and will grow to 30 with the addition of San Diego in 2025.

The Arizona Coyotes are entering their second season playing at the 5,000-seat Mullet Arena on the campus of Arizona State University — but the team and NHL are optimistic that plans for the franchise’s future home will be solidified by season’s end.

“My belief is in the next few months, they will finalize something,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said recently.

In August, the Coyotes signed a letter of intent to purchase a plot of land in Mesa as the possible site of a $2.1 billion sports and entertainment district featuring a 16,000-seat arena. That came after a huge defeat for the franchise in May, when a similar project was rejected by voters in Tempe.

Now, the Coyotes are tasked with determining the best land option and funding sources. 

Bettman added that his hope was to have something done by the end of the season and/or next summer. It would be several years before the Coyotes could move into a new venue, even if construction started in 2024.

Media Madness

Last week, the Coyotes finally got clarity regarding their media rights deal with Diamond Sports Group’s Bally Sports Arizona, which was supposed to run through the 2024-25 season. A bankruptcy judge granted permission to DSG to reject the deal, allowing the Coyotes to take over the rights.

Coyotes president and CEO Xavier Gutierrez told Front Office Sports the team had planned on that outcome for several weeks, although the franchise couldn’t make any agreements until Thursday’s ruling came down. The Coyotes announced a local broadcast deal with Scripps Sports to carry 81 of 82 games.