Teams are locking up players while they can and those that haven’t might be quickly learning that waiting was a mistake. With news that the NHL’s salary cap could jump in 2024 and then again by a significant margin in 2025, teams are realizing their pending free agents see the writing on the wall and want to be compenstated accordingly.
The Boston Globe’s Matt Porter recently noted that both the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars might be feeling the pinch as negotiations with David Pastrnak and Jason Robertson may have gotten a touch more difficult. With early projections suggesting the cap could rise to $92 million by 2025-26, he writes:
Consider what that could mean for Dallas rising star Jason Robertson, absent from camp and still an unsigned restricted free agent entering the weekend. Without many alterations to their cap structure, the Stars could fit him on a two- or three-year bridge deal worth between $7 million and $8 million. Is Robertson’s camp telling Dallas that an eight-year contract would be based on a salary cap that’s higher than $92 million? Approaching $100 million?
Porter adds that Pastrnak could be looking for $11.1 million per season and that an eight-year $88.8 million could be “more in line with fair value for No. 88…”
There have been reports that Pastrnak isn’t too concerned. He’s a pretty chill guy and gets the business of hockey. It is even being reported that he’s not closed off to the idea of negotiating during the season — something that is a no-go for a number of NHL players. He’s got one final season left on his current deal and the plan seems to be to see how the year unfolds and make a decision once he’s comfortable with where the Bruins are headed as an organization.
Robertson’s situation is a bit different. He’s a promising young star on the rise in Dallas and currently a RFA. The Stars have just over $7 million to sign his new deal, but if he wants more, Dallas may have to make other moves. Rumors are they’ll try to ship out Anton Khudobin or get him on LTIR, but they may also have to make another move if Robertson is looking to give away years of his unrestricted free agency in during a time where the cap will jump in a major way and he could look back and regret his decision to be so accommodating.
The Bruins and Stars aren’t the only teams that will have to consider what a jump in the cap means for their respective rosters. That said, these are two of the biggest names looking for new deals and the organizations that have team control of their contracts have huge decisions to make.
More must-reads: