On Friday, October 2, Elliotte Friedman announced that the salary cap would take another jump in 2028. The cap will be $113.5 million next year and jump to $127.5 million in 2028. Here is how it could benefit the Senators.
The core is already locked down
Most teams are happy that the cap went up so they can retain more of their core players. Players who would enter free agency or leave through trades can probably stay with the new cap. The Senators did not have this issue before with the core they were building. Pierre Dorion was not a good general manager. However, one of the few good things he did in his time was his contract extensions. He was able to lock down the entire core with eight year, $8 million contracts. At the time this was the norm for solid players. What seems like a solid gamble then turned out to save the senators millions of dollars on the cap.
Their core players such as Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson are already locked in for a few more years. Shane Pinto, Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens also have their multi-year deals signed too. This will not be an added stress in the offseason as the most important parts of the team are accounted for.
The captain's extension will be covered
Now the big question is will the other extensions be adjusted for such as Thomas Chabot? In my honest opinion, I believe that this will not be an issue. Chabot has two years left on his contract, that would cover the gap between the cap increases. He is making $8 million dollars per year on his current deal. Looking at where contracts are going, I would argue that Chabot is worth just as much as he is right now. Even if he gets paid more or less than what he makes now, his extension doesn’t hurt our cap situation.
The retained salary opens more room
For the last few seasons, the Sens have had some cap for two players not on the team anymore: Colin White and Joonas Korpisalo. White was a buyout and Korpisalo was retained salary via the Ullmark trade. Their cap hits will be up by the 2028-29 season. This will free up another $1.85 million combined on the salary cap. That space could be a difference maker when it comes to contract negotiations or free agent/trade acquisitions.
The Senators will have 62 million in space
Yes you read that correctly, the Ottawa Senators will have 62 million dollars of cap space in the 2028-29 season. There will there be space for extensions and additions. There will be a lot of space for the team to build a quality contender to take them to the cup final. Hopefully, Staios will use this opportunity when the day comes to make some big swings and fill the roster.
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