New NHL rules might ruin activity at trade deadline this season
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On a recent broadcast of Oilersnation Radio the hosts discussed some of the new CBA rules and the impact these will have on the NHL trade-deadline.
New CBA rules remove incentive for big trade-deadline deals
One of the Oilersnation Radio hosts simplified how the new the rules work by citing a basic example of a trade-deadline scenario:
"If you have $3M in cap space, you can bring in like, a $10M to $12M, if there's 25% (of salary remaining for regular season at trade-deadline), and come day one of the playoffs they immediately begin to count as $12M again...You have to be cap-compliant (for playoffs)."
The new NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) fundamentally restricts activity at the trade deadline by applying the salary cap to the playoffs and closing loopholes teams previously exploited.
In effect, the rule will prevent GM's from making trades for high-salary players throughout the regular season for fear of losing other players further down the roster during the playoffs.
These new rule changes force General Managers to be more strategic and conservative with their acquisitions, as they can no longer back-load their roster with expensive players just before the postseason, especially from the LTIR.
Before the new CBA, the salary cap only applied during the regular season. This allowed teams to acquire expensive players at the trade deadline and activate additional high-salary players returning from Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) for the postseason.
Starting with the 2025-26 season, the lineup dressed for each playoff game must be salary cap compliant. This eliminates the ability to over-spend at the deadline. It forces teams to be mindful of postseason roster finances during their regular season trading.
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