The NHL and NHLPA today released the full text of their new Collective Bargaining Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding, set to take effect ahead of the 2026-27 season. The two sides officially ratified the four-year extension on Tuesday, with many key details about the document already reported.
Still, some of the finer details may have gotten lost in translation or were not completely made public before today. As a result, we’re running a special-edition mailbag/Q&A about the new CBA and MOU. Submit your questions about the extension in the comment section below, and PHR’s Josh Erickson will comb through both documents to find the answer.
The mailbag will run on Tuesday, July 15.
What are your beliefs on A) How taxes affect contracts after new CBA, B) Chances of new expansion teams and what divisions and expansion draft could look like, and C) Who is in line to succeed Bettman as he could likely retire within the next few years. Thanks!
I’ve heard NHL teams can put a 19 year old in the AHL starting next season or maybe the following season. Do you know if that is part of the new CBA?
This isn’t a direct CBA question, but with drafted players signing rights expiring at 22 years of age under the new CBA plus the influx of NIL money at the NCAA level (which is likely to lead to some sort of additional compensation for some CHL players as well), will the draft shift to be more like the old MLB draft where “signability” is a more important factor when drafting than actual talent? With players now able to move from the CHL to the NCAA, an 18 year old could easily be in position to make more money with a year or two in the CHL then 4 in the NCAA (bringing him to 22 years of age) than he would make as an AHL player under a standard NHL two way contract.
Great question. IF you could get into that. Do we risk more Howard types that don’t want to sign with a team just taking NCAA $ to run out draft rights? Or power NCAA team with NIL money keeping a player 4 years.
Is there any anti tampering rules? E.g. Pitt can’t funnel $1 M a year to Penn State for McKenna to keep him there so he signs as a FA with Pitt (just made this up)
Does the CHL have to sign off on the reported eligibility of one 19 year old player per team being allowed assignment to the AHL?
What would be the pay scale for an EBUG, since they are expected to be ready for all 82 games? My understanding is their pay would NOT count against the salary cap, correct?
So with the preseason now shortened to just 4 games with the upcoming CBA, do you think this will have any sort of affect on roster construction around that time?
Also do you see this affecting players who settle for a PTO?
Can you confirm/correct/comment on this reading of the LTIR changes:
1. A team can replace a player on LTIR only with players of average-salary-or-less (that is, no replacing an injured star with an equivalent player) unless the injured player is deemed ineligible for the rest of the season including playoffs
2. In the playoffs, the season’s cap amount applies (with numerous counting rules for bonuses, retentions, etc., that I will assume make sense) to the 20-man roster for each game.
3. The teams or NHLPA can request a good-faith re-assessment of the playoff cap after two playoffs in use (2028).
It seems pretty straightforward but I still wonder if here are loopholes available to Vegas.
If there are loopholes, Vegas will find them.
Good for Vegas. Fans of the other franchises should hope that their management teams are looking for them as well.