The 2019-20 salary cap is projected to be around $83 million, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday at the league’s Board of Governors meeting, reports NHL.com’s Dan Rosen.
That would mean a rise of roughly $3.5 million from this season’s $79.5 million ceiling. The league will negotiate the final number with the NHL Players’ Association next June.
Here’s the NHL salary cap for the past five seasons:
2018-19: $79.5M
2017-18: $75M
2016-17: $73M
2015-16: $71.4M
2014-15: $69M
The Blackhawks will enter next offseason with nine forwards, six defenseman and goaltender Corey Crawford under contract. Those 16 players carry a $62,211,794 cap hit, according to CapFriendly. Under the projected $83 million cap ceiling, the Blackhawks would have $20,788,206 in cap space.
Chicago’s cap space figure will, of course, change depending on potential trades and how much general manager Stan Bowman spends when re-signing players set to hit free agency.
The Blackhawks have 16 players set to hit the open market this summer:
Chris Kunitz, F
Jan Rutta, D
Cam Ward, G
Collin Delia, G
Luke Johnson, F
David Kampf, F
Dylan Sikura, F