I think it’s easy to see why. With Seattle coming in a few years, the influx of cash they’ll be bringing in, the cap will go up by a lot, just as it did when Vegas came into town. Also, the American broadcasting rights are up next year. The NHL will get another load of juice money from a new deal there.

The only reason the cap might not be increasing much for the next 2 years is due to the CBA expiring.

Do you think this may also mean that the CBA is including possible compliance buyouts? I know Melnyk's stated he thinks compliance buyouts are a form of cap circumvention, but that's just because he's cheap. Most teams could use a compliance buy out or two and the NHL product as a whole would be better...no?

Some pretty good points there.
This will sound very controversial but I feel it needs to be said: the NHL and hockey in general will grow but not at the rate their counterpart the NBA.

Why am I comparing the NHL and NBA? In the 80's and 90's these two leagues were comparable financially and t.v. revenue was similar for both.
What's happened since then is the popularity of one League rise ahead (especially in the US) while the other hasn't been on the big sports network in how long now?

The NHL needs to change and badly. I mean this in the sincerest way possible so the league I love to watch and follow can continue to grow.
NHL needs new blood so it can compete and stay relevant long term.

this is the biggest bunch of nonsense I have seen today. It's a lot easier to see a big orange ball than a tiny black puck on those old 1990s tvs. Which is why there wasn't growth in hockey till larger HD tvs became a thing.

Furthermore, the NHL is growing exponentially while the NBA is shrinking. The attendance between the two in games is almost even now.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/207458/per-game-attendance-of-major-us-sports-leagues/

The NBA got it's growth into other markets beyond north america. That's coming with the NHL now too. It takes time for the NHL to catch up because they started later due to technology. But they will eventually pass the NBA in popularity because it's a better product. Even the people in the NBA know that.

The NHL has always been a gate driven league. The NBA's tv revenues are ten times the NHL's, that's where the real money is. Everytime historically a new tv deal was approaching, we had a lockout or threat of lockout which drove the NHL's bargaining power down with the networks.

they couldn't put the NHL on tv for decades because no one could see the puck on their 20 inch standard definition tvs. Come on man, be real about it. The NBA was on tv getting contracts and building an audience for decades before the NHL was. It's not even a comparable. But what is happening is the NBA is shrinking, and the NHL is growing. Those are facts.

I agree with Melynk. Compliant buyouts are a type of cap circumvention. As a fan of rich Leaf team, I like the buyouts.
Maybe another way of allowing more compliance buyouts is that teams would have to give up draft picks for that right. Maybe one every three years would be allowed. Depending on the cap saving, it would determine the pick forfeited.

ten times is still ten times, that kind of disparity gap will never allow the NHL to be as popular

Oh I can for sure see his point, but if you Bettman trying to promote the sport as a whole. Then you're for compliance buyouts. Promote the team that's trying to take risks to get better. Not the team trading for players with higher cap hits than salaries. Allow a team to admit their mistake (they still need to pay the player) and the fan base gets excited for "new blood." Back to the point though. Do you think this could be a sign that teams are so willing to hand out these MEGA contracts? Less fear of Comcast needing to keep Hayes/Jakub/JVR on the books the full term?

Good points you make. No I don't think the inflated contracts have anything to do possible more compliance buyouts.
IMO the inflated contracts have to do the expectation that the revenues and cap will rise.
So instead of 3m to 3.5m rise in cap every year. Maybe in 2021/22 there is jump from 86m to 94m and in 2022/23 a jump to 102m.

you are clueless. The NBA is shrinking in attendance and ratings. It has been for years. It's incredibly boring.

numbers are numbers they don't lie, not like "opinions"

You are the clueless one.
Basketball is the second most accessible sport in the world and people from all walks of life play it.
If only hockey was that accessible but it's not and the startup costs are very prohibitive.

none of that means people watch it.
It's ratings have shrunk year after year. It peeks years ago and is in decline. You can tell looking at the attendance and the tv ratings. Both have declined.

Apparently the cap did not rise lol. That Covid thing apparently got in the way.