All indications are that the NHL salary cap will increase by $2 million to $3 million this offseason because of an overall boost in league revenues.
The increase will mean that big-market teams like New York, Chicago, and Detroit can spend more on players, but it will be problematic for the fistful of teams in economic trouble.
A $2 million to $3 million increase of the cap to somewhere around $62 million also means that the salary cap floor — the minimum amount teams must spend on their rosters — will also rise from $43.4 million to somewhere around $46 million.
Teams like the Islanders, Thrashers, and a group of other struggling teams will have major difficulty spending that much money on players.
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