With the salary cap largely being flat the last few years, more teams have had to dip into LTIR when injuries have come up. Accordingly, the number of teams facing bonus overage penalties has also risen. This year is no exception as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports in collaboration with CapFriendly that 11 teams are currently facing cap overage penalties for 2024-25 as a result of bonuses achieved this season.
When a team finishes up the season using LTIR to stay cap-compliant, they don’t have any regular cap space to which bonuses can be applied against. Accordingly, that results in LTIR teams that have incentives that are met finishing over the cap, yielding overage penalties. Whatever amount they finished 2023-24 over by is then deducted off the Upper Limit for next season.
The teams that are confirmed to have bonus overage penalties are as follows:
Edmonton Oilers: $3.45MM*
Dallas Stars: $2,595,407
Washington Capitals: $2.2525MM
Los Angeles Kings: $1.85MM
New Jersey Devils: $1,538,897
Montreal Canadiens: $1.0225MM
Ottawa Senators: $850K
New York Rangers: $512.5K*
Minnesota Wild: $425K*
Philadelphia Flyers: $245K
Boston Bruins $50K*
Teams denoted with an asterisk could see their bonus overage increase if the following happens:
Edmonton: Corey Perry’s contract calls for $50K if the Oilers make the Western Conference Final and another $50K if they reach the Stanley Cup Final.
New York: Theirs would increase by $25K if they win the Stanley Cup, a bonus in Jonathan Quick’s deal.
Minnesota: Marco Rossi can make $212.5K if he makes the All-Rookie Team which would then be added to the Wild’s carryover penalty.
Boston: Milan Lucic will receive $200K if the Bruins win the Stanley Cup as part of his contract.
In addition to the above, Carolina and Florida also have the potential for an overage contingent on the playoffs. The Hurricanes would have a $50.45K penalty if Jackson Blake plays in 20 games between the regular season and playoffs. Meanwhile, the Panthers would take a $500K hit if they win the Stanley Cup to cover that bonus in Kyle Okposo’s contract.
Team-by-team details with specifics on how each one got to the point of an overage were covered separately by PuckPedia.
It’s the first time that multiple teams will carry overage penalties of more than $2MM into the following season. With the cap expected to go up by closer to $4MM this summer, that could in theory take some pressure off from the bonus overage perspective but only if teams leave themselves a bit more wiggle room to work with. There’s a good chance that won’t happen so we’re quite likely to see these penalties again next season though with perhaps fewer teams getting the hit next time around.