The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association have agreed to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), set to take effect with the 2026-27 NHL season, pending ratification. The two sides have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with the deal now requiring ratification from both league owners and the full PA membership.
The current CBA is set to expire at the end of this coming season. The extension, under the new agreement, will begin for the 2026-27 NHL season and carry through until 2030. The current CBA was signed in 2013 and extended in 2020.
While the league and the PA did not release full details of the CBA, it has been widely speculated that the following will be part of the new agreement, based on several media reports:
- Moving from an 82-game regular season schedule to an 84-game schedule beginning in 2026-27. This will also include the shortening of the preseason to four games per team.
Players with 100 or more career games played can play in a maximum of two preseason games.
The addition of two extra games to the schedule would be played within your division, ensuring that each team in a division plays each other four times, instead of the current rotation, where some inter-division teams only face one another three times a season.
- Players will be limited to signing a new contract of a maximum of seven years as a re-signing player on their current club and six years with a new club. Previously, clubs were able to re-sign players to eight-year contracts and bring in new players on seven-year deals.
Similarly, there will be no deferred salary option in contracts.
Signing bonuses will be capped at 60 percent of the full player's salary.
- The introduction of a 'full-time' Emergency Backup Goalie. The EBUG position will be a permanent role where the designated person will travel and practice with their NHL club, eliminating amateurs from participating in the emergency role.
- The salary cap, as previously reported, will take some big leaps, from $95.5 million, $104 million, and $113 million.
- Eliminating player dress codes for players arriving at or leaving games.
You can read more about the CBA here.
