Notes From Final Day Of NHL’s General Manager’s Meetings: Expansion, Salary Cap, Draft Lottery Odds And Key Dates Ahead

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15 March 2023

NHL general managers wrapped up their final day of meetings at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, Fla on Wednesday. Commissioner Gary Bettman also met with the media on Wednesday following the conclusion of the meetings.

Salary Cap

According to Eric Engles, the salary cap doesn’t appear likely to go up by more than a million for next season. Brad Treliving, Flames GM, said he and the other GMs aren’t planning to have more space.

Gary Bettman said the NHL is willing to discuss a larger salary cap bump than $1M for next season with the NHLPA, but the league needs to see what incoming executive director Marty Walsh wants to do. Walsh is officially scheduled to start his job with the NHLPA next Monday.

Bettman noted in December that the $1 million rise is based on current revenue projections, noting players still owe escrow. He added that revenue could exceed projections and see the cap raised higher.

The Players negotiated a six per cent escrow cap over the last three seasons of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). That’s great for them, but probably a big stumbling block for league. If the NHL and NHLPA discuss/negotiate an agreement to raise the cap more despite the escrow balance not being paid off, the escrow percentage would have to rise from a set number of 6%.

The salary cap also increased by $1 million – to $82.5 million – for the 2022-23 season after sitting at $81.5 million in each of the previous two years.

Sale Of The Senators

Bettman said the timeline for the sale of the Ottawa Senators is “a matter of weeks” as the league moves on to the next stage of the process.

“As we get to Phase 2, it’s a matter of weeks,” he told reporters at the end of the league’s general managers’ meetings on Wednesday.

When asked to describe what happens in Phase 2, Bettman replied, “You begin the process of winnowing down the number of interested parties, and while you’re reducing the number of parties, you’re hopefully increasing the magnitude of their interest – for those that are remaining.”

NHL Draft Lottery

The NHL’s draft lottery has been set for May 8 at 7 p.m. The much-anticipated draw will determine which of the bottom 11 non-playoff teams at the end of the season will land generational player and consensus No. 1 prospect Connor Bedard. The 2023 NHL Draft will take place on June 28 and 29 in Nashville.

The current odds to land the number one pick, courtesy of The Daily Faceoff:

Expansion

Bettman said the NHL has received expansion interest: “Places like Atlanta, like Houston, like Quebec City.” He added, “But we’re not in an expansion mode right now and it’s not really something, at least right now, that’s anywhere close to front-burner for us.”

Stanley Cup Playoffs/Final

The first day of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be April 17. The Stanley Cup Final is tentatively scheduled to begin on June 3, subject to a possible move-up in the event the earlier series wrap up quickly.

Playoff Format

Bettman reiterated that the league’s playoff format is fine by him and he has no interest in going back to the old eight-team conference seedings.

“If you’ve been tracking it for the last month, there isn’t much difference between either format,” Bettman said. “We think, and I think it’s concurred with (among) the general managers, that what we’ve got works really well. I know that some people may have a preference for doing things differently. But this is working well. And we’re not looking to make any changes.”

Coaches Challenges

The hottest-button topic at the meetings was the potential expansion of coach’s challenges, which would allow coaches to address friendly-fire high-sticking penalties and delay-of-game penalties where replay shows the puck actually clipped the glass.

In the end, the GMs decided to gather more information before determining whether to bring it to the competition committee in June. If a formal recommendation is made, it would then be brought to the Board of Governors for approval.