NHL Cap Floor 2026: Why the Coyotes Spent $60M to Win 20 Games
The Arizona Coyotes won 22 games in 2024-25, finishing dead last in the Central Division. Their payroll? Roughly $62 million — right at the cap floor. They weren't spending to win. They were spending because the CBA forced them to. The NHL salary cap floor requires every team to carry a minimum payroll. For a team trying to tank, that floor is both a burden and a business opportunity.
At BreadTruth, we cover the salary cap from every angle. The floor is the least discussed part of the NHL's financial system — but for players on rebuilding teams, it's often the only thing keeping their paychecks above the league minimum. Here's how the cap floor works, and why it creates one of the strangest markets in sports.
What Is the Cap Floor?
The cap floor is calculated as a fixed percentage of the upper limit. In 2026-27, with the upper limit at $104 million, the floor sits around $76 million. Every team must carry a roster whose combined cap hits exceed this number. If they don't, the league can impose penalties — fines, loss of draft picks, or even voiding of contracts that don't comply.
How the Floor Creates the "Bad Contract" Market
When a team tears down its roster — trading expensive veterans for picks and prospects — its payroll can plummet below the floor. To get back into compliance, the team must acquire salary. But it doesn't want good players — good players win games, and the team is trying to lose for better draft odds. So it acquires bad contracts: overpaid veterans that contending teams want to dump. The rebuilding team takes the contract. The contending team attaches a draft pick as a sweetener. Everyone wins — except the player, who now plays for a team that doesn't want to win.
What It Means for Players
The cap floor creates a safety net for veteran players who might otherwise be squeezed out of the league. Teams need to spend money. Even if they don't want to compete, they need bodies with cap hits. For a 33-year-old defenseman with a $4 million contract and declining skills, the cap floor can be the difference between another NHL paycheck and retirement.
But it also means players on tanking teams endure losing seasons, reduced visibility for future contracts, and the psychological grind of playing meaningless games. The floor guarantees their salary. It doesn't guarantee their sanity.
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The NHL cap floor is the league's way of ensuring owners spend at least some of their revenue on players. It creates a market for bad contracts, funds veterans on rebuilding teams, and guarantees a minimum level of player spending across the league. For players on tanking teams, it's the only thing standing between them and a roster full of minimum-salary replacements.