The CBA · 2023 to 2031
HOW PWHL PAY WORKS
There's no salary cap. Instead there's a floor for every player and a target for every team's average, and both go up every year.
The lowest base salary a rostered player can earn in 2026-27, up from the $38,245 the 2023 deal called for.
Each team's average salary across all 24 roster spots has to land within 10% of this.
No maximum for any one player. A star can earn well above the average.
THE BAND
That's why team pages compare payroll to a range rather than a cap: a team can be under the band as well as over it.
Team average salary lands here: $54,090–$66,110, within 10% of the $60,100 target (the bright line).
THE RAISES
The agreement set $35,000 and $55,000 for the first season and raises both 3% a year (§8.1(c), §8.2(b)). On October 29, 2026 the league and the players' association agreed to lift the floor faster than that: $42,000 in 2026-27, reaching $52,500 by 2030-31 instead of $43,046. A contract already signed below the new floor pays the new floor. The team-average target still follows the 3% path.
| Season | Minimum | Team avg target |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | $35,000 | $55,000 |
| 2024-25 | $36,050 | $56,650 |
| 2025-26 | $37,132 | $58,350 |
| 2026-27now | $42,000was $38,245 | $60,100 |
| 2027-28 | $45,000was $39,393 | $61,903 |
| 2028-29 | $47,500was $40,575 | $63,760 |
| 2029-30 | $50,000was $41,792 | $65,673 |
| 2030-31 | $52,500was $43,046 | $67,643 |
MORE THAN SALARY
The minimum isn't the whole package. On top of base pay, in 2026-27:
For every rostered player, from pre-season to a week after the team's season ends. Up $100 a month each year.
For meals on travel days, less any meals the team provides. Rises with the team average.
Since January 2025. Whatever the league doesn't spend of its benefits budget goes into players' retirement accounts.
BONUSES
Paid every season on top of salary. Playoff money goes to the team and is split among its players as the players' association directs.
| Championship team | $63,250per team |
| Playoff runner-up | $40,250per team |
| Each playoff semifinalist | $23,000per team |
| Most Valuable Player | $5,000per award |
| Top forward, defender, goaltender; Rookie of the Year; community award | $4,000per award |
| All-Star Game winners | $1,500per player |
| All-Star Game runners-up | $1,000per player |
Unchanged since the 2023 agreement (§8.4). Unlike salaries, bonuses don't rise 3% a year.
WORTH KNOWING
Section numbers refer to the PWHL–PWHLPA collective bargaining agreement, written in 2023. Minimums from 2026-27 on, the roster size and the end of the reserve tier come from the league and players' association's joint statement of October 29, 2026. Last verified November 1, 2026.