The end of the flat cap era could be in sight. After three seasons at a salary cap upper limit of $81.5 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, a long-awaited increase could be coming – and just in time for a number of teams. TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that the NHL is continuing to project a $1MM bump to the current ceiling and that teams will be informed of the expected $82.5MM mark for the 2022-23 season at the upcoming GM Meetings.

The 2021-22 season has not been without its hiccups, specifically a large number of games postponed due to COVID in December in January. However, with the NHL also opting out of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the league was able to reschedule many of those missed games during the planned Olympic break in February, with other dates being added and swapped throughout the rest of the season. Johnston reports that these changes did not impact the league’s revenue stream in a meaningful way.