How The Projected Salary Cap Increase Will Affect The Golden Knights

The salary cap is expected to go up in the National Hockey League, which could reap great benefits for the Vegas Golden Knights. Based on commissioner Gary Bettman's comments at the most recent NHL Board of Governors meeting, it looks like a $1 million increase is all but guaranteed.

Bettman laid out two possibilities for the NHL's salary cap moving forward. 1) The salary cap increase by $1 million with players still owing escrow, or 2) the cap increases by nearly $4 million if revenues are high enough, which would negate the escrow payments.

"Based on current projections, there will still be an escrow at the end of the season, and if that is the case, we will move the cap up by $1 million. If, in fact, we perform even better… by ballpark and an additional $140-150 million, it is conceivable the escrow will go away, and the cap will go up to the range of $86 million plus," said Bettman.

The NHL and NHLPA agreed to a flat cap amidst the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Then, the salary cap was set to $81.5 million for those two seasons before it was raised to $82.5 million this year. Doing simple math, this means that next year's NHL salary cap will likely be within the $83-86 million range.

For the Vegas Golden Knights, a team that is known for spending up to the cap, this is excellent news. Here's how the team would look in both possible scenarios. Big thanks to CapFriendly, as always.

Golden Knights Cap Breakdown (Low-End)

Even if the salary cap increases by just $1 million next season, the Golden Knights will still greatly benefit. 

Phil Kessel's ($1.5 million), Brett Howden's ($1.5 million), Adin Hill's ($2.175 million), Laurent Brossoit's ($2.325 million), and Nolan Patrick's ($1.2 million) contracts will all come off the books. After removing Robin Lehner from LTIR, the Golden Knights will have a projected $3.4 million in cap space.

This is a nice chunk of change for some flexibility but doesn't provide the VGK with much room to do anything major.

However, the Golden Knights team is mostly locked up heading into next season with no major UFAs or RFAs to sign. Kessel, Hill, and Brossoit will be UFAs and Howden and Patrick RFAs.

With Lehner back and Logan Thompson emerging, the VGK could cut ties with both Brossoit and Hill, and depending on how they want to manage their depth scoring Kessel, Howden, and the injured Patrick could all be gone as well.

The $3.4 million in added cap could be used to add a depth scorer on the Golden Knights or even make a trade.

Golden Knights Cap Breakdown (High-End)

If $86 million becomes the new cap hit, obviously, the Golden Knights will benefit even more.

After removing Lehner from LTIR and sending guys back down to Henderson, the team will have roughly $5.9 million in space. Again, this is with Kessel, Howden, Hill, Brossoit, and Patrick hitting free agency.

Having nearly $6 million in cap space would certainly entice general manager Kelly McCrimmon to explore the NHL trade and free agency markets.

Locked Up Core

A huge bonus for the future of the Golden Knights is their mostly locked-up core. 

Next season Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, and Alec Martinez will all be entering contract years.

But Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, William Karlsson, and Alex Pietrangelo will all have three or more years left on their deals next season. Shea Theodore will have two years left on his deal starting next season.

The VGK also have a lot of young up-and-coming players under contract. This past offseason saw a lot of Golden Knight's RFAs sign as Nicolas Roy, Nicolas Hague, Keegan Kolesar, Paul Cotter, and Logan Thompson re-inked with the team.

Potential Possibilities

Who knows what general manager Kelly McCrimmon will do with this projected cap space? The Golden Knights have been the premier 'buyers' on the NHL trade market and in free agency.

Patrick Kane, Vladamir Tarasenko, David Pastrnak, Alex DeBrincat, and Timo Meier are notable forwards set to hit the free-agent market this summer.

If managed wisely, the projected $4 million salary cap boost could benefit the Golden Knights and perhaps propel them to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.