The NHL’s salary cap is set at $73M for the '16-17 season, while the floor is set at $54M and the “adjusted midpoint” is $63.5M, according to James O'Brien of NBCSPORTS.com. It looks like the NHLPA "did indeed agree" to a 5% escalator "that bumped up the cap from what would have been a very limiting mark." But Octagon Hockey agent Allan Walsh tweeted, "With 16% escrow! Between income tax and escrow, many players lose 65%+ from face value of contract." The $73M figure "represents a modest" $1.6M bump from '15-16, when the cap was at $71.4M. It provides "at least a touch of breathing room, yet we’ve already seen examples of teams needing to make some painful decisions" (NBCSPORTS.com, 6/21). ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun noted with the cap "barely rising, some cap-challenged teams might have to trade some players to get under" the $73M mark before next season begins, although it "could have been worse had the cap not increased at all." One source suggested that had both sides added just a 2.5% growth factor, the cap "would have stayed flat; had there been no growth factor at all, the cap likely would have gone down." After years of large cap growth, the number "has stagnated the past two years in large part because of the fall of the Canadian dollar, with the seven Canadian NHL teams having a huge effect on overall league revenue" (ESPN.com, 6/21). YAHOO SPORTS' Josh Cooper noted the upward movement of the cap "should give some relief to cash strapped teams" such as the Kings, who have $65.8M allotted for 35 contracts. On the other end of the spectrum, the Coyotes have $34.44M "locked into 29 contracts as they try to reach the floor" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/21).
FEHR FACTOR: NHLPA Exec Dir Donald Fehr said, "There's another $100 million [escrow payment] that comes this October; I think that's the last payment -- that we'd have a break-in period and then escrow would begin to fall. And would be falling toward zero and maybe moving in the other direction. From what I can tell, but for the foreign exchange issue -- the relative fall of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar, which has been really precipitous and somewhat unprecedented in the speed with which it fell during the past couple of years -- that we would be moving in that direction. We're not. And that's a real issue." He added, "What the guys talk about when they discuss the issue are the things that you would talk about: First is, to the extent that the [5%] growth factor is applied, what does that do to the escrow either in an absolute sense or a relative sense given the other things that are baked in at this point? And then, secondly, if you don't have it, what does that do to players who are negotiating contracts this year or who may be affected by that?" (ESPN.com, 6/21).
