2025/2026 Season Trade Rumours and Speculation Thread

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Wolven

The problem is that these LTIR retirements are another cap circumvention. Marchand getting a 6 year contract at age 37, meaning it triggers the 35+ rules in the CBA, shows that they are going to play him until his body breaks down from age instead of some specific ailment and then put him on the LTIR until his contract runs out.

This is slightly different from Pietrangelo, Price, or Weber who signed contracts in good faith and are unable to play them out because of real issues but the last thing you want to do is create a special "LTIR retired" category that invites the bad faith version of this behaviour.

Fair, maybe make it an application or something that is reviewed on a case by case basis. In the case of Pietrangelo and Price I think those would be two legitimate circumstances where it would be pretty obvious that this wasn't done with cap circumvention in mind.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Except for the playoff cap, aren't the CBA rules the same as last season, with the other new stuff starting in 26/27?

Pretty much.

Things I could see change for 2025-26:

• no more paper transactions
• no more player dress code
• A copy of a player's no-trade lists sent to NHL's central registry
• Mandatory neck guards
• mid-season PTOs

2026-27:

• 84 game season
• New term limits on contract
• 19-year-olds in the AHL
• More playoff revenue for players
• League min salary up to $1M
• Full-time EBUGs

[IliketoPuck]

Along the same lines as the CBA changes to playoff salary cap calculations, I wonder if it would be possible to normalize for tax jurisdictions as well?

Players are going to choose where they play regardless, and nothing the league does is going to change the tax policy of the states / provinces.

But if you were to calculate the salary cap based on the take home pay of the contract signed in the jurisdiction, that would even the playing field substantially.

[Bonded]

Does LTIR count in the playoffs now?

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Does LTIR count in the playoffs now?

It doesn't really matter. If you want to use a 7 million dollar player off IR for the playoffs...you need to get 7 million dollars out of your lineup from somewhere else. But you can still draw from a 120 million dollar pool of 25 players type of thing.

Essentially every team will have a cap number based on buyouts, retention and bonuses. Then the 20 players you dress need to come under that number.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by IliketoPuck

Along the same lines as the CBA changes to playoff salary cap calculations, I wonder if it would be possible to normalize for tax jurisdictions as well?

Players are going to choose where they play regardless, and nothing the league does is going to change the tax policy of the states / provinces.

But if you were to calculate the salary cap based on the take home pay of the contract signed in the jurisdiction, that would even the playing field substantially.

I have been thinking about this too. Like if they said the NHL HQ is in NYC and thus all players pay the NYC tax rate regardless of where they are stationed.

Or, if that is not possible then it could become a job of the NHLPA to collect the money on behalf of the players and then distribute it in a way that is adjusted to balance out the salaries regardless of local tax rates. That way a player making $7M per year would take home the same salary regardless of whether they lived in Texas or California.

That would certainly help eliminate the tax advantage that some teams have and further help level the playing field throughout the league.

[Bonded]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

It doesn't really matter. If you want to use a 7 million dollar player off IR for the playoffs...you need to get 7 million dollars out of your lineup from somewhere else. But you can still draw from a 120 million dollar pool of 25 players type of thing.

Essentially every team will have a cap number based on buyouts, retention and bonuses. Then the 20 players you dress need to come under that number.

I’m thinking more along the lines of that Price contract. Is it really ####ty for the Habs now?

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Bonded

Does LTIR count in the playoffs now?

As others have mentioned, the playoff cap is applied on a per-game basis, to the 20 player game roster. Injured players, and healthy scratches, are not counted towards the playoff (game) cap.

It does give teams some flexibility, as the regular season cap accounts for the full 23 player roster + injuries. That's where the LTIR replacement cap will play a role. If your star player goes out for the remainder of the season, and you're capped out, then you can exceed the cap by only $3.8M instead of the ~$10M you just lost. That way a Tkachuk injury doesn't allow a team to bring in a S. Jones, or placing M.Stone on LTIR doesn't allow you to bring in Hertl and Hanifin.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by Bonded

I’m thinking more along the lines of that Price contract. Is it really ####ty for the Habs now?

Not really. There is a caveat–teams may get full salary relief for players who are declared unfit for the remainder of the regular season AND the playoffs. So, teams can still get 100% relief, but they must forfeit the chance to get that player back at any point in that season.

That said, they're still looking to trade him after his bonus is paid. His actual salary for the year is only $2M, the signing bonus is $5.5M.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Bonded

I’m thinking more along the lines of that Price contract. Is it really ####ty for the Habs now?

I don't think this changes anything.

The main reason some thought they could move it was because if a team doesn't want to spend 70 million dollars. They can get a 10 million dollar cap hit by paying him 2. Now that his September 1 bonus has been paid.

Beaten by the post above

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Wolven

I have been thinking about this too. Like if they said the NHL HQ is in NYC and thus all players pay the NYC tax rate regardless of where they are stationed.

Or, if that is not possible then it could become a job of the NHLPA to collect the money on behalf of the players and then distribute it in a way that is adjusted to balance out the salaries regardless of local tax rates. That way a player making $7M per year would take home the same salary regardless of whether they lived in Texas or California.

That would certainly help eliminate the tax advantage that some teams have and further help level the playing field throughout the league.

Further to that the teams that make a lot of money should give the teams that make less money and have an internal cap that prevents them from spending to the actual cap money so that all teams have the same amount of money to spend on players and all teams can spend to the cap. That would further help to level the playing field between the teams that have more money than other teams.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Further to that the teams that make a lot of money should give the teams that make less money and have an internal cap that prevents them from spending to the actual cap money so that all teams have the same amount of money to spend on players and all teams can spend to the cap. That would further help to level the playing field between the teams that have more money than other teams.

And all teams should be forced to fly an equal number of hours regardless of the distance required to get to all their destinations.

[Finger Cookin]

All goals scored should go into a communal pool that can then be divvied up equally each time productivity quotas need to be measured. An unprecedented 250+ co-winners of the Maurice Richard award.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Macho0978

There also will be some interesting healthy scratches come playoff time too if teams make deals for players due to injury.

Oilers make a big move too add and then bench Nurse type decisions.

I didn't think about that. If the player is in the minors/press box, doesn't their cap still count? It does in the regular season. You can't just get rid of a bad cap hit by burying the player in the minors.

Edit: Just saw gvitaly's post above. That seems like a loophole, but I guess not as loose as it was before?

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by blankall

I didn't think about that. If the player is in the minors/press box, doesn't their cap still count? It does in the regular season. You can't just get rid of a bad cap hit by burying the player in the minors.

Edit: Just saw gvitaly's post above. That seems like a loophole, but I guess not as loose as it was before?

I don't think they can make it any more strict without making the trade deadline completely pointless. Then any deadline deal would have to be money in = money out, which is tough when teams are looking to upgrade for the playoffs.

---

I'm more curious about performance bonuses. I assume they wouldn't count for the playoffs cap, but if someone knows for sure, then I'd love to know.

Typically the team and league know what performance bonuses are owed to a player by the time he makes it to the playoffs. Usually they don't count against the cap mid-season, and are subtracted the following year if the team exceeds the cap. However, it doesn't really have an effect on the playoffs. Someone like Perry could have a cap-hit of $4M, or $2M. This could definitely impact some roster decisions.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by gvitaly

I don't think they can make it any more strict without making the trade deadline completely pointless. Then any deadline deal would have to be money in = money out, which is tough when teams are looking to upgrade for the playoffs.

---

I'm more curious about performance bonuses. I assume they wouldn't count for the playoffs cap, but if someone knows for sure, then I'd love to know.

Typically the team and league know what performance bonuses are owed to a player by the time he makes it to the playoffs. Usually they don't count against the cap mid-season, and are subtracted the following year if the team exceeds the cap. However, it doesn't really have an effect on the playoffs. Someone like Perry could have a cap-hit of $4M, or $2M. This could definitely impact some roster decisions.

Since bonuses paid go into the cap the next season (presumably when they are paid), it makes sense they would count against the next years cap (including next years playoffs of course).

[Freeway]

Performance bonuses DO NOT count against playoff cap.

[Sec214]

Spoiler!

[Sandman]

Another Sec post? Somethin’s goin’ down!

Most likely a Zary signing.

[Poe969]

We're getting Oli Jokinen again?