NHL Streamlines Salary Cap and LTIR Changes for 2025-26 Playoffs

NHL and NHLPA Accelerate Key Changes for the 2025-26 Season

The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) have agreed to streamline the implementation of a salary cap for the playoffs and modifications to the long-term injury reserve (LTIR) rules for the 2025-26 season. This decision, which is part of the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), seeks to address existing concerns about salary cap management and playoff competitiveness. 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.

Playoff Salary Cap

The playoff salary cap rules seek to address a constant concern: the use of LTIR rules by some teams to field rosters that would exceed the regular 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, Calgary Flames center

Previously, there was no salary cap in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which allowed teams to bring back players on LTIR at the end of the regular season. The salary cap compliance will only apply to players participating in a specific postseason game. Teams must submit a list of 18 players and two goalies to the NHL Central Registry before each playoff game. A “club average salary on the player list” will be calculated for that group, which must be below the team’s salary cap “upper limit.” The “club average salary” is the sum of the averaged amounts of the nominal salary value and bonuses for that season for each player on the list.

Changes in LTIR Rules

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 for players replacing a player on LTIR cannot exceed the total 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 requires the approval of both the NHL and the NHLPA.

Other Accelerated Changes

Other CBA changes that will be implemented quickly for the 2025-26 season include: The prohibition of deferred compensation in player contracts, which will come into effect on October 7. The rest of the CBA changes will have a “gradual implementation” over the next year, including an increase in the minimum salary of players in March. Other major changes, such as the variation in contract value and term limits in contracts, will not take effect until after September 16, 2026. The NHL’s shift to an 84-game regular season will also be implemented in 2026-27.