The NHL has specific guidelines for team spending. Here's a breakdown of the rules.

• The NHL, along with one other league, has a strict salary cap, which limits each team's payroll to a specific amount during a season.
• The 2024-25 season has a budget range of $65 million to $88 million.
• Since the 2004-05 NHL season was canceled due to a labor dispute, a salary cap has been in effect.

To win the Stanley Cup, a National Hockey League team must play 82 games in the regular season, win four playoff series, and pay close attention to mathematical calculations.

The NHL, along with one other league, has a strict salary cap, which limits each team's payroll to a specific amount during a season.

The pay ceiling for the 2024-25 season is $88 million and the lower limit is $65 million. As a result, regardless of a team's value, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs at $4 billion or the Columbus Blue Jackets at $1 billion, all teams have roughly the same amount of money to spend on player salaries.

The range for the salary cap in the league is determined by a formula in the collective bargaining agreement that takes into account the previous year's preliminary hockey-related revenue, among other factors.

During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, the league's revenues were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a pause in year-over-year salary cap increases.

Since the conclusion of the 2004-05 NHL season, which was canceled due to a labor dispute, the pay limit has remained in effect.

The NHL Players Association and the league reached a collective bargaining agreement for the upcoming season, which included a salary cap, following a shorter labor dispute that resulted in a 48-game schedule.

The NHL and NHLPA declined to comment for this story.

Since the full season stoppage, the league's financial health has improved due to the strict salary cap, as sports business experts stated.

"The NHL has experienced significant financial stability since the missed season, which has impressed many other leagues, according to Syracuse University sports management professor Rick Burton, author of "Business the NHL Way: Lessons from the Fastest Game on Ice.""

Over the past couple of decades, the NHL has demonstrated success through rising franchise valuations, improved attendance, and robust salary health, as indicated by Burton.

Looking back over the last 20 years, both parties collaborated to achieve a solution that has had a considerable impact, he stated.

Unlike Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, which have no salary cap and a soft salary cap, respectively, the hard salary cap in football is a significant difference. While both MLB and NBA have some form of a fee for exceeding a certain threshold, football has no such fee.

The NFL and NHL employ a strict salary cap, a practice common among sports leagues to maintain balance and prevent wealthier teams from acquiring top talent.

A sports lawyer at Herrick Feinstein and co-chair of the firm's Sports Law Group, Irwin Kishner, stated that if a business restricts the amount wealthy owners can invest in players, it will level the playing field for lesser clubs to compete with wealthier ones.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Knicks both renegotiated contracts with their star players, with the Dodgers deferring $20 million of Shohei Ohtani's deal and the Knicks securing a significant discount on Jalen Brunson's extension.

But the hard cap means NHL teams have to be especially diligent.

The NHL's $88 million maximum has an exception for the long-term injury clause, which allows teams to exceed the cap while a player is injured. However, the team must be under the salary cap once the injured player is healthy and ready to return.

The NHL is planning to commence negotiations with the NHLPA for a new CBA in early 2025, as stated by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman at the 2021 NHL Board of Governors meeting. The current CBA, which was extended, will expire in September 2026.