Key Changes in the NHL for the 2025-26 Season
The NHL and NHLPA have reached an agreement to accelerate the implementation of a salary cap in the playoffs and make changes to the long-term injury reserve (LTIR) rules for the 2025-26 season. These modifications, which are part of the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), are anticipated to address significant concerns in the realm of professional hockey. The current CBA agreement ends on September 15, 2026. The new agreement, announced in July, has a duration of four years. NHL general managers will be briefed on the CBA rules for this season at their meetings in Detroit this week.Salary Cap in Playoffs
The playoff salary cap rules address an ongoing concern among players and general managers: the use of LTIR rules by teams to field rosters that would exceed the regular season’s upper salary limit.Previously, there was no salary cap in the Stanley Cup playoffs, allowing teams to bring back players on LTIR at the end of the regular season for Game 1 of the playoffs, after having used their available cap space to add talent at the trade deadline. The salary cap compliance applies only to players participating in a postseason game. Teams must submit a list of 18 players and two goalies to the NHL Central Registry by 3 p.m. local time or five hours before a playoff game, whichever comes first. A “playoff roster club average salary” will be calculated for that roster, which must be below the team’s salary cap “upper limit”. The “club average salary” is the sum of the average amounts of the nominal salary value and bonuses of the players for that season for each player on the roster, and all amounts charged to the team’s salary cap.I think overall it’s a good thing because it’s a competitive advantage. That’s how most people view it, especially if you can use it the right way.
Nazem Kadri, center for the Calgary Flames
Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) Changes
In addition to the postseason salary cap, the NHL and NHLPA have agreed to accelerate changes to the LTIR rules for the 2025-26 season. The total salary and bonuses of “a player or players” who have replaced a player on LTIR cannot exceed the total amount of the salary and bonuses of the player they are replacing. The new LTIR rule also states that “the average amounts of said replacement players cannot exceed the league’s average salary from the previous season.” There is an exception to the changes in the LTIR rules: teams can exceed these “average amounts”, but the injured player would not be eligible to return that season or in the postseason. That exception needs approval from both the NHL and the NHLPA.Other Accelerated Modifications
Other CBA changes to be implemented quickly for the 2025-26 season include:- The ban on deferred compensation in player contracts, which will take effect on October 7.
- The relaxation of player dress codes.
- The ability of players to sponsor “wines and spirits”.
- The prohibition of “double salary retention” in transfers.
