The 2022-23 NHL season is now well underway and conversations around Stanley Cup odds are ramping up, but which teams are writing big checks this year to maximize their chances?
Unlike Major League Baseball's payroll system, which allows teams to essentially add as much as they'd like to their payroll and pay a luxury tax over a certain threshold, the NHL has a fixed salary cap that teams cannot go over. The maximum cap for a team in the 2022-23 season is $82.5 million, and the minimum is $61 million. This keeps teams in larger markets from spending extravagant amounts of money to extend their advantage over smaller-market clubs.
How Does the NHL Salary Cap Work?
A team's salary cap hit is found by adding up the AAV (annual average value) of each player on their roster. This is calculated by adding up each player's total salary and signing bonuses on their contract, then dividing that number by the number of years the contract spans.'