It was mentioned a couple days ago that the collective bargaining agreement was officially agreed upon to be extended until 2011-2012. The other part of that was agreeing to boost the salary limits for this season. Both the NHL and the NHLPA were happy to announce what, exactly, those limits would be for the upcoming season.
The National Hockey League Players’ Association and the National Hockey League announced today that the Team Payroll Range established for the 2010-11 League Year, pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, provides for a Lower Limit of $43.4 million, an Adjusted Midpoint of $51.4 million and an Upper Limit of $59.4 million.
That said, teams like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston are more than happy to see the cap jump up as much as it has as it gives them a bit more flexibility and relaxes the stress on them to make overly drastic moves to reduce payroll.