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PHF Commissioner: 'Salary cap increase is essential to us doing many things'

PHF commissioner Reagan Carey joined the Locked On NHL podcast to discuss the impact of the increased salary cap on the leading women's hockey league.

NEW YORK — Back in December, The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) announced a significant salary cap increase for next season, doubling the amount from $750,000 to $1.5 million per team in 2023-24. 

The PHF, formerly the National Women's Hockey League, is a women's professional ice hockey league located in the United States and Canada. 

It’s the third season in a row that the salary cap will be raised for the PHF, marking a 900% increase from their 2020-21 salary cap of $150,000.

The PHF also signed a deal with ESPN and TSN before the 2022-23 season to broadcast games. That came after a $25 million investment from the Board of Governors last January that will go towards player salaries and benefits.

PHF commissioner Reagan Carey discussed the far-reaching impact of the salary cap increase with Erica Ayala of Locked on NHL and Locked on Kraken.

“When we talk about the new era in women’s hockey, it’s important to emphasize resources on all fronts. That salary cap increase is essential to us doing many things - not just providing a livable wage to our players who are showing up every day and giving it their all," Carey said on the Locked On NHL podcast.

“It’s also a matter of being able to have players be full-time professional hockey players so we can have games wherever we want to in a schedule and they can practice whenever they want to in regards to a team schedule and not have to work around some of the realities of women’s sports right now with some of the players having to do other jobs in addition to this pursuit of their dreams as a pro hockey player.”

That’s huge for women’s hockey, where several high-profile players have eschewed the PHF for the PWHPA, a traveling showcase that was created to draw attention to the fact that there is no hockey league that pays women a living wage and has the infrastructure in place to succeed.

One of those players is goalie Kimberly Saas, who earned close to the National Women’s Hockey League (now the PHF) minimum of $2,500 while playing for the Metropolitan Riveters during the 16-game 2018-19 season. 

“After taxes, I realized that I had paid more to play professional hockey than I had made,” Saas told Reuters back in 2019. Saas worked full-time as an architect in New York City on top of being a professional hockey player, an arduous and unsustainable situation for even the most dedicated.

While the increase for the PHF is huge, there’s still a long way to go. While not all player salaries are made public, the ones that are range from $13,500 to $80,000. Those on the lower end will still find themselves back in Saas’s shoes.

But, the work to increase growth will continue, Carey said in a statement at the time of the announcement.

“We will not stop here, and are very proud to continue our track record of establishing new records for women’s professional hockey,” said Carey. “The PHF was the first league to pay its players back in 2015, and our commitment to building the best home for women’s professional hockey requires us to continue leading the way forward. Greater financial opportunities for athletes is part of the new PHF era. We are doing the work, and we are seeing the results.”

The PHF will host the 2023 All-Star weekend in Toronto, Ontario this weekend.

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