Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
When the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman signed his current contract in January of 2020, the NHL (and the world) were still a few weeks away from halting operations due to covid.
Today, with the league having largely surmounted the financial ramifications from the pandemic, Pettersson's pending status as an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason potentially puts the reliable 28-year-old blue liner in a position to maximize his earning potential at an ideal moment.
"Some would call it luck," Pettersson quipped. "Good timing for sure. As a player, your goal is to sign big, long contracts. ... When you only have one or two years where there's big differences, only one group of guys gets those rewards. It's good timing. Any time the cap goes up, it just means the league is doing good."
On Friday, the NHL and NHLPA announced the salary cap is projected to rise over the next three seasons. And substantially.
At the moment, the cap ceiling sits at $88 million. Per a release from the league and players association, that figure is expected to surge:
Per the collective bargaining agreement between the league and players' association, the cap is tied to league revenues. So clearly, the league's finances have rebounded considerably since the pandemic.
"It's good for the guys that need a contract, that's for sure," said Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, the team's representative to the NHLPA. "That means the league is doing good business and the league is healthy."
When Pettersson signed his current contract in 2020, the NHL's salary cap figure was $81.5 million, and it remained there for a few years before rising incrementally to the current tabulation.
"It's been a nightmare for older guys to get contracts," said Letang, who signed a six-year contract extension in July of 2022. "It's been a nightmare for (general managers) to fit everybody and not losing players they would like to retain. It's a relief.
"It's been tough for teams to retain older players or guys they couldn't fit under the cap. Teams have good players, built a good team and suddenly you can't pay your players. It's been hard, but with the cap increasing, it's going to be good."
Another good aspect of Friday's announcement was the apparent harmony that exists with the NHL and NHLPA. Between 1992-2013, the two parties have had four work stoppages (one strike and three lockouts).
The most recent stoppage came in the fall and winter of the abbreviated 2012-13 season which was limited to 48 games because negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement lasted until January.
The notion of the NHL and NHLPA being on good terms is not lost on members of the Penguins who experienced, first-hand, the cantankerous nature of the negotiations in 2012.
"Your career, for some guys, it could be five years, it could be three years, it could be 20," said Letang, a 19-year veteran. "But you never know. You don't know how long you're going to play. You sure don't want to sit a year or half a year. ... It's never a good process to sit out."
Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was briefly part of those negotiations in 2012 and even coordinated players-only practices at the team's former practice facility in Canonsburg in 2012. (Coaches and other team employees were not permitted to interact with players during that lockout.)
"It just means it's in a good place, the game," Crosby said of Friday's announcement. "As far as that relationship, that's really important. That's what you want. It's a great sign."
Signs of financial health for the NHL have been infrequent for decades. And that made Friday's projections all the more welcome.
"I'm glad they didn't do so it's only one year because only one (group) of guys reap the rewards for that," Pettersson said. "It's always good news because it means the league is growing, the league is making money. It's good for everybody involved."