The Colorado Avalanche traded Mikko Rantanen on a Friday. The market for Rantanen’s future services changed the following Friday.
A large spike in future salary cap ceilings had been speculated about for weeks. The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced this past Friday that the cap will be going up — way up — in the coming seasons. It will be $95.5 million next season.
Then it keeps rising, to $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million in 2027-28. Those numbers aren’t locked in, but this is the most economic certainly that NHL teams and agents have had in the salary cap era.