Gary Bettman: NHL salary cap projected to be $83 million for 2019-2020 season

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:

Brandon Davidson, D

Marcus Kruger, F

Chris Kunitz, F

Jan Rutta, D

Andreas Martinsen, F

Cam Ward, G

Carl Dahlstrom, D

Collin Delia, G

Victor Ejdsell, F

Anton Forsberg, G

Gustav Forsling, D

Luke Johnson, F

David Kampf, F

Anthony Louis, F

Brendan Perlini, F

Dylan Sikura, F