Salary cap: The CH is one of the clubs facing the most pressure for the 2026–2027 season

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Salary cap: The CH is one of the clubs facing the most pressure for the 2026–2027 season
Credit: YouTube (capture d'écran)

As we now know, the salary cap for the 2026–2027 season in the National Hockey League has been officially set at $104 million.

As a result, we now have a clearer picture of what lies ahead for the 32 NHL teams.

This has allowed Spotrac to determine that, at this time, one of the teams with the least financial flexibility heading into the upcoming NHL season is the Montreal Canadiens.

According to estimates from the site, which specializes in sports contracts, only the Avalanche ($3 million) and the Golden Knights ($4 million) have less cap space than the Habs for the 2026-27 season.

The Habs have $9.24 million in cap space. But at least the majority of the core roster is under contract.

The figure includes deferred bonuses for young players ($1.9M) and contracts set to take effect, including Lane Hutson's. Mike Matheson and Alexandre Texier are the others guaranteed a pay raise.

It also includes Jacob Fowler, Adam Engstrom, and David Reinbacher, three players who aren't necessarily guaranteed to start next season in Montreal.

Fowler and one of the two defensemen could, however, make the team's roster if Samuel Montembeault and a depth defenseman are traded.

But we'll see in due time.

That said, the figure does not account for players like Kirby Dach, Joe Veleno, Zachary Bolduc, and Arber Xhekaj, who will all be restricted free agents on July 1.

And it obviously doesn't account for Patrik Laine, who will be a free agent.

Kent Hughes, who must know (roughly) how much he'll offer each RFA this summer, the trades he'll make, and the young players who could make the team, has a good idea of what he's working with if he wants to make an addition.

And by “addition,” we're obviously thinking of a second-line center here.

If Kent Hughes manages to free up some cap space this summer (Samuel Montembeault, for example), he'll have some wiggle room. Otherwise, with Kirby Dach at around $4 million, that would tie up the GM's hands for a potential addition. It could take up nearly half of that wiggle room…

We'll see in due time how the GM handles this. Dach had better help himself by continuing to play well in the playoffs, let's say.


In a nutshell

– The story is generating a lot of buzz.

– Ouch.

– Still.

– Note.

– He knows he has to get up.

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