NHL Information on Salary Cap Information & Free Agents

National Hockey League players and teams are bound by salary cap rules that stipulate maximum and minimum salaries and govern rules regarding the transfer of players. Calculations can be made based on salary cap information to provide a figure known as "salary cap hit," which estimates the cost of an individual player to their team. All salary cap and transfer agreements are made under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is regularly revised and agreed by all NHL teams.

  1. Salary Cap Ceiling

    • The salary cap ceiling refers to the maximum amount a team can spend on their combined player salaries. The exact figure varies each season and is decided by the total National Hockey League revenue two seasons previous. For example, the 2008-2009 salary cap ceiling was determined by the revenue from the 2006-2007 NHL season. Salary cap rules do not allow an individual player to make more than 20 percent of a team's wage bill.

    Salary Cap Floor

    • Similar to the salary cap ceiling, the salary cap floor is the minimum amount a team can spend on player salaries. Though generally a formality, the minimum wage bill ensures players are paid market value for their services. The salary cap floor is generally set at $16 million below the ceiling. The minimum amount an individual player can be paid under salary cap rules is in the vicinity of $500,000, but varies by season.

    Salary Cap Hit

    • The salary cap hit refers to the average amount of money an individual player takes up within the salary cap. For example, a player on a two-year, $8 million contract represents a salary cap hit of $4 million each year. Weighted contracts are not taken into account by the salary cap hit calculation. A player paid $5 million in his first year and $3 million in his second still represents a salary cap hit of $4 million each year.

    Restricted Free Agents

    • There are two types of free agent in the National Hockey League, restricted and unrestricted. A restricted free agent is a player able to attract new contract offers from rival teams while remaining under contract to their original team. However, if a rival contract offer is made, the player's current team has the right to match the offer and has first priority over the player. Various details within the restricted free agent status stipulate pay increases or compensation offers in the form of draft picks if a rival offer is made.

    Unrestricted Free Agents

    • Unrestricted free agents are players without a contract who are free to attract offers and sign contracts as they please. National Hockey League rules do not allow a player to become an unrestricted free agent until he is at least age 27.