CAP, EXPLAINED

Start here. The four numbers every cap conversation is built on.

Salary Cap (Upper Limit)

The hard ceiling on what a team can spend on player salaries in a season. It is a true cap, not a luxury-tax line: no club can exceed it, no matter how deep the owner's pockets are. The league sets the number each year based on hockey-related revenue.

Cap Hit (AAV)

A player's annual cap charge, equal to the total value of his contract divided by its length. That average annual value (AAV) is what counts against the cap, not the actual dollars paid in a given year. So a player earning $9M one season and $5M the next on a long deal can carry a cap hit somewhere in between.

Committed vs Cap Space

Committed money is the sum of every cap hit already on the books. Cap space is what is left between that total and the Upper Limit, the room a team has to sign or trade for more players.

Cap Floor (Lower Limit)

The minimum a team is required to spend. The floor sits a fixed distance below the ceiling, so even rebuilding clubs have to commit a baseline amount of salary each season.

The fine print: how deals are structured and what protections players negotiate.

Entry-Level Contract (ELC)

The capped, league-mandated first contract for young players (generally ages 18 to 24). Salaries are limited, the term is fixed (usually three years), and the only real lever is bonuses. It keeps rookie costs predictable across the league.

Signing Bonus

Money paid up front, usually on a set date like July 1, simply for being under contract. It is guaranteed even in a lockout and is buyout-proof, which is why players and agents prize it. It still counts toward the cap hit as part of the contract's total value.

Performance Bonuses

Extra money tied to hitting targets like games played, goals, or awards. They are mostly limited to entry-level deals and certain veteran or post-injury contracts. If earned, a bonus can push a team over the cap, and the overage gets charged against the following season.

No-Trade Clause (NTC)

A contract term that blocks the team from trading the player without his consent. Many are partial: the player submits a list of teams he will or will not accept a trade to.

No-Movement Clause (NMC)

Stronger than a no-trade clause. It stops the team from trading, waiving, or demoting the player to the minors without his sign-off. It is the most player-friendly protection a contract can carry.

The accounting tricks and relief mechanisms that bend the cap without breaking it.

LTIR (Long-Term Injured Reserve)

A relief mechanism for players sidelined long term (at least 10 games and 24 days). It does not erase the cap hit, but it lets a team spend above the Upper Limit by roughly the amount of the injured player's hit while he is out. It is relief, not free money, and the accounting is notoriously fiddly.

Salary Retention

In a trade, the team sending a player away can agree to keep paying part of his salary and carry part of his cap hit, up to 50 percent. This helps a cap-strapped team move a contract, or helps a buyer fit a star under the ceiling. A contract can be retained on at most twice, by two different teams.

Buyout

Ending a contract early by paying the player a reduced lump sum, spread over twice the remaining term. It clears most, but not all, of the cap hit, and leaves a smaller dead-money charge on the books, sometimes for years.

Burying a Contract in the Minors

Sending a player to the minor leagues to get some of his cap hit off the NHL books. Relief is capped: only the amount above a set threshold (roughly a league-minimum salary plus a buffer) comes off the cap, so big contracts can never be fully hidden.

Dead Cap

Cap space tied up in players who are no longer on the roster, usually from buyouts, retained salary, or certain contract penalties. It is money charged against the cap for no current production.

How players hit the open market, and the rules around signing them.

UFA vs RFA

An unrestricted free agent (UFA) can sign with any team, no strings attached, once his contract expires and he qualifies by age or experience. A restricted free agent (RFA) is younger or less experienced: his current team retains rights and can match outside offers, so he is not truly free to leave.

Qualifying Offer

To keep a restricted free agent's rights, his team must extend a qualifying offer, a minimum one-year contract at or near his prior salary. Skip it, and the player becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Offer Sheet

A rival team's contract offer to another club's restricted free agent. The original team can match it and keep the player, or decline and receive draft-pick compensation based on the contract's value. They are rare, because matching is usually the easy choice.

Arbitration

A process for settling a restricted free agent's salary when player and team cannot agree. An independent arbitrator hears both sides and sets a one-year (or two-year) award. Either side can elect it under certain conditions, and the ruling is binding within set limits.