Minnesota Whitecaps' hockey league doubles salary cap

The Premier Hockey Federation in which the Minnesota Whitecaps play announced on Wednesday it will double its salary cap next season, a commitment it calls "historic" for the women's hockey league.

The cap for each of its seven teams will increase from this season's $750,000 to $1.5 million in the 2023-24 season, the PHF said in a news release. This season's cap minimum floor is $562,500 per team.

It's the third salary-cap increase in nine seasons of a league formerly named the National Women's Hockey League. Next season's cap will be 900% growth since it was $150,000 per team in 2021, the league said.

PHF commissioner Reagan Carey said in a statement that the 2023-24 cap "reflects the strength of our league and developing business model" of a league in which all seven teams now are independently owned. NLTT Ventures owns the Whitecaps and the Buffalo Beauts.

Carey said the doubled cap will support a better "player experience" that includes full healthcare benefits, facility upgrades and league expansion that added a new team in Montreal this season.

The Whitecaps this season moved the Wild's Tria practice rink in downtown St. Paul to Richfield Ice Arena, where they will play their 12 home games this season. They have for the first time their own locker room, training spaces and team store. They also have their team logo — and their sponsors', too — painted into the ice.

They're currently third in the PHF with a 3-3-2 record and an upcoming home weekend series against Montreal. Those league advancements — particularly the growing salary cap — allowed a Whitecaps team that finished fifth among six teams last season to reach into Europe during summer free agency.

The Whitecaps signed Czech Olympian and former Northeastern University scorer Denisa Krizova, who played the last three seasons in Sweden. They also brought Mounds View High's and former UMD forward Sydney Brodt back home from playing in Sweden last season.

"That was a huge draw for a lot of us, just being able to have that support from the league and team here," Brodt said at the start of the season about a growing salary cap. "Sweden was awesome. They have a great women's pro league over there. But it's good to be home."

Like everything else, money talks.

"Getting players in Europe to come home and play here, it definitely helps to attract players," Whitecaps coach Ronda Engelhardt said last month. "It brings a lot of high-end players in. There's more money to make than I thought there would be."

Carey credits players, alumni, coaches, staff, volunteers, partners, ownership and fans for such growth, saying they have "all been working towards ensuring full-time professional hockey is a career path for women."

"We will not stop here," she said. "Greater financial opportunities for athletes is part of the new PHF era. We are doing the work and we are seeing the results."