The NHL salary cap could reach an incredible $150-million which means that Auston Matthews' new contract could become one of the NHL's most expensive.
Salaries in the NHL continue to rise, and as we've seen with recently deals such as Leo Carlsson's and Cale Makar's - they are creeping into obscene levels of money. The cap keeps rising thanks to a steady stream of revenue, which has led teams to be able to present these mega deals to players.
It could end up getting even bigger though according to The Sheet's Jeff Marek. Marek was speaking to an unnamed NHL manager and was told there is a belief within the league that the salary cap is going to reach $150-million:
I had lunch with a manager...who said we think that-our team thinks that in five years the salary cap could be 150 million dollars.
Currently, the salary cap projections for 2027-28 and 2028-29 are $113-million and $123-million respectively (according to PuckPedia) which would make the projected $150-million range a very viable increase given the $10-million jump from 27-28 to 28-29.
Makar's $20.4M deal just changed the floor for Matthews' next negotiation
With that projected jump however it provides a new perspective into why the Colorado Avalanche made Cale Makar the NHL's first $20-million a year player.
Far gone are the $13-14M contracts that are offered for superstar players, as those are going to now be reserved for some fantastic players - but not necessarily the NHL's elite. Makar is going to be making $7.2-million more per year than Auston Matthews, who only signed his extension three years ago.
Back then, he was taking up 15.1% of the team's entire cap space, whereas that deal with Makar makes up 17.9%. While that's still a fairly sizeable gap, it shows that back when the cap was still slowly rising, now it may not matter given the steady growth.
Makar's $20.4M extension represents roughly 18% of the $113.5M cap when his deal begins in 2027-28 so at a hypothetical $150M cap, the same 18% share would be about $27M.
Negotiating power is going to be a bit of an uphill battle for Matthews given his production over the last two seasons, but with a strong 2026-27 and proof that he's back to being the world's best goal scorer - he can use that as leverage.
A $150M cap could make $25M for Matthews look very different than it does today
But it all comes down to whether or not he cane his old self. Having a 69-goal scorer on your roster doesn't happen too often, and Toronto doesn't necessarily want to let him go even if he never reaches those heights again.
But he does have the potential to be a perennial 50-goal scorer for the next half decade, and if he wants to truly cash in on his next deal - be it in Toronto or elsewhere - then he needs to start showing that he's the Matthews of old.
It's not just the total of goals though, it's the types of chances, his release, his shot speed, his skating speed, his dexterity; all the things that made him such a feared player. Those are going to need to come back to life if he wants to prove that he's going to be worth such a lucrative contract.
If he does that, then the Maple Leafs will have no real choice than to offer him a boatload of money if they want to keep him in the lineup. Lucky for them though, it seems like the NHL's consistency rising cap will be their saving grace.
Do you think Auston Matthews is deserving of $20-million per season?
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