Kraken Contracts Corner: Key changes in the new NHL CBA

On July 6, the NHL and NHLPA announced they had agreed to a new four-year deal extending their labor agreement through the 2029-30 season. The new agreement contains a number of league-wide changes scheduled to take effect in the 2026-27 season. For example, NHL teams will play 84 regular-season games, instead of 82, and will be subject to a salary cap in the playoffs.

Digging a bit deeper, the Seattle Kraken will reckon with many subtler impacts. For example, 2025 first-round pick Jake O’Brien will likely get a development opportunity his elder teammate Berkly Catton did not. John Hayden’s contract will look a bit different 14 months from now. And there will be an important new deadline in contract extension negotiations with Shane Wright next summer.

Let’s get into all of it, starting with the basics. What is the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and what does it do? Then we’ll get into the sides’ recent agreement, what’s in it, and some big picture thoughts on what it means for the Kraken and the league moving forward.

The CBA explained

The CBA is a contract between the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association containing requirements, limitations, and other terms on NHL teams’ employment of NHL players.

The CBA reaches into many business and strategic aspects of the game. For example, it covers scheduling and work limitations (number of games, training camp length, etc.), player compensation (revenue split, the salary cap, length and minimum/maximum requirements of player contracts, etc.), and player rights (the draft, entry-level contracts, free agency rules, assignments to other leagues, etc.).

On the other hand, with some limited exceptions, the CBA typically does not reach on-ice matters or gameplay. Those matters are covered by separate agreements, including an official NHL Rulebook issued annually.

The current CBA became effective as of Feb. 15, 2013. Originally it was due to expire on Sept. 15, 2022. The NHL and NHLPA extended the CBA by four years under a 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (“2020 MOU”). As modified by the 2020 MOU, the CBA was then due to expire on Sept. 15, 2026.

The recent July 6 announcement concerned the NHL and NHLPA’s approval of a second Memorandum of Understanding, dated June 27, 2025 (“2025 MOU”). This agreement extends the existing agreements through Sept. 15, 2030.

First and foremost, this assures five more seasons without a bargaining-related play disruption—whether a strike or lockout. This is a win for the fans. What else is in the 2025 MOU? Let’s look into that now.

Regular season and preseason schedule adjustments

Beginning with the 2026-27 season, NHL teams will play 84 games, up from the 82-game schedule of recent years. The change will allow for “balanced” scheduling, with each of the 32 teams playing non-conference teams twice (home and away), in-conference, non-division teams three times, and in-division teams four times (two home and two away). For the owners, this balance is likely an incidental benefit to a revenue-focused change.

To partially mitigate the added burden, new restrictions on the preseason and training camp will arrive simultaneously. At least two preseason games will be eliminated from the schedule, with each team allowed to play a maximum of four preseason games total. Players with 100 or more NHL games played will be limited to two preseason games.

Players who played in at least 50 NHL games the preceding regular season will be required to participate in no more 13 training camp practice days. Training camp is limited to 18 days for all other players.

Kraken takeaways: Adding two games to ensure a balanced in-division schedule is good in one way: The Kraken should be playing Vancouver twice at home and twice on the road each season.

Otherwise, I have reservations about making a training camp schedule that already feels quite brief even shorter. This will be felt most acutely by teams with new coaching staffs. On the other hand, I don’t mind dispatching with a couple preseason games—particularly in conjunction with rules that limit veteran participation and guarantee there will still be opportunities for prospects to play on the big stage.  

Long-term injury cap relief changes in the regular season

Under the existing rules, if a team’s player is expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 calendar days due to injury or illness, the team is afforded the option of “long-term” injury cap relief, allowing the team to add player salary and bonuses to the roster up to the amount of the injured and unavailable player. This allows teams to exceed the salary cap that would otherwise apply while the player is out.

• Example No. 1: Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Edmonton Oilers have $93,187,500 in annualized cap commitments and $2,312,500 in annualized cap space under the $95.5 million salary cap with 12 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies on the roster. Assume Zach Hyman qualified with a long-term injury on Day 1 of the season.
  
  • Scenario A: If the team made no other moves beforehand, it would be able to replace Hyman’s $5.5 million salary as follows: $2,312,500 of any replacement player(s) would go into the available cap space and the team would be able to exceed the cap by $3,187,500.
    
  • Scenario B: If the team added a $2 million forward to the roster before putting Hyman on long-term injury, reducing the team’s available cap space to $312,500, it would enter the season with even more potential total cap relief: only $312,500 of any replacement players would go into the team’s available cap space, and the team could exceed the cap by $5,187,500 moving forward.

When combined with the absence of a salary cap in the playoffs, this rule created an unintended—and much-discussed—incentive for teams to sit out players who might be healthy enough to return earlier during the regular season until the playoffs while taking advantage of the cap relief to add another player. This would give the team the benefit of being able to play both players in the cap-free playoff environment.

The new agreement closes that loophole in two ways beginning with the 2026-27 season. The first adjustment comes during the regular season. In the event of a long-term injury, the team will get relief equal to the lower of (1) the player’s cap hit or (2) the average annualized salary of an NHL player from the prior year.

• Example No. 2: Going into the 2026-2027 season, a player with a $5.5 million cap hit qualifies for long-term injury on a team that has $103 million in cap commitments and $1 million in cap space below the projected $104 million cap. Assuming the average salary from the 2024-25 season was $3.25 million, the team would get $3.25 million for player replacements while the injured player is unavailable. In this example $1 million would go into the team’s available cap space, and the team could exceed the cap by $2.25 million.

• Example No. 3: Same setup as example No. 2, except the injured player’s contract has a $1.5 million cap hit. In this scenario, the new agreement does not change the calculation method at all because the player’s cap hit is lower than the prior season’s average player contract. If the team utilized long-term injury, $1 million in replacement player salary would go into the team’s existing cap and the team could exceed the cap by $500,000 of annualized cap hit.

There is one exception to this rule: If the NHL and NHLPA agree the severity of a player’s injury or illness justifies it, they may allow a team relief equal to the player’s full cap hit. If a team is afforded such relief, the injured player is deemed ineligible to play that season, whether in the regular season or the playoffs.

Salary cap coming to the NHL Playoffs

The second change geared toward closing the LTIR loophole is to impose a salary cap during the playoffs beginning with the 2026-27 season.

How does this work? On the day a team is to play its first NHL playoff game—by 3:00 pm local time or five hours before puck drop, whichever is earlier—the team must submit a “playing roster” of 18 skaters and two goalies to the NHL Central Registry. The annualized cap hits of those on the “playing roster” must be at or below the league salary cap—as adjusted for the specific team due to bonus overages, buyouts, or trade retentions applicable to that season. The team can then make adjustments to its “playing roster,” if it wants to do so, within the same timeframe before any ensuing playoff game. (If a player becomes unavailable to play after a “playing roster” is due but before gametime, the team can replace that player provided it notifies the NHL Central Registry as soon as possible.)

In theory, a team can maintain a full playoff roster that is over the cap, provided the 20-player “playing roster” is cap compliant. On the one hand, this new procedure prevents a team from circumventing the cap during the season with long-term injury shenanigans only to load up its lineup during the playoffs (i.e., Mark Stone or Nikita Kucherov magically being ready to play on the first day of the postseason). On the other hand, it may prevent teams from engaging in the more standard (and accepted) practice of accruing cap space early in the season to acquire additional salary at the trade deadline for a run into the playoffs.

Accordingly, the 2025 MOU requires the parties to “meet and confer” after the 2026-27 season playoffs to determine if adjustments to this playoff cap rule are necessary to avoid unintended consequences.

NHL player contract changes

The new agreement also provides for a number of NHL player contract-related changes. Under the current rules, a player can sign an extension with his own team for a maximum term of eight years or sign with any team during free agency for a maximum term of seven years. Under the new agreement, going into effect on Sept. 16, 2026, players will be limited to seven-year terms on extensions and six-year terms in free agency.

Additionally, the minimum NHL salaries will increase each season from the current level of $775,000:

• 2026-27: $850,000
• 2027-28: $900,000
• 2028-29: $950,000
• 2029-30: $1 million

A player on an NHL contract cannot receive a salary less than the minimum for the relevant league year, even if he signed a multi-year contract previously that provided for a lower salary. Accordingly, some low-salary contracts will be revised upward beginning with the 2026-27 season.

The minimum salary increases will also result in corresponding increases to the sums that can be removed from the NHL cap sheet by assigning a player contract to the AHL:

• 2026-27: $1,225,000
• 2027-28: $1,275,000
• 2028-29: $1,325,000
• 2029-30: $1,375,000

• Example: If the Seattle Kraken were to assign Tye Kartye and his $1.25 million average annual value contract to the AHL on opening day in the 2026-27 season, $1.225 million of that amount would come off of Seattle’s cap hit, with only a $25,000 annualized cap charge remaining.

The new agreement also restricts teams from certain unique payment structures. “Deferred” compensation arrangements—where players receive a portion of their pay after the fact—will be prohibited. Likewise, new rules limiting the front-loading of contracts and shifting too much contract value into signing bonuses will also go into effect before the 2026-27 season.

Finally, teams will not be allowed to reduce their salary cap obligations on a player contract by moving players off the NHL roster to the minor leagues without any intent that the player actually report to the AHL team and play a game. This practice—called a “paper transaction”—will be forbidden beginning with the 2026-27 season. If a player is reassigned such that the player misses a day of NHL time, the player must actually report to the minor league team and a play a game before being recalled. (This will not affect players sent down and recalled on trade deadline day with the intent of making those players eligible for the AHL playoffs.)

Kraken takeaways: The Seattle Kraken will have at least one notable young player eligible for a contract extension next offseason: Shane Wright. Until Sept. 15, 2026, the team will be able to sign Wright to an eight-year extension. Any extension signed after that date would be capped at seven years. Might this give the team and player added incentive and a new deadline to strike a long-term arrangement?

The rising NHL salary minimums will also result in John Hayden’s 2026-2027 salary being revised upward from $775,000 to $850,000. His cap hit will rise correspondingly. Even so, the new sum could still be buried in the AHL without cap consequence.

NHL Draft and player development changes

As it stands currently, an NHL team holds exclusive negotiating rights to a drafted player for differing periods of time based on the league from which the player is being drafted. Under the new agreement, the right-retention regime will be simplified and (mostly) harmonized.

Beginning with the 2027 draft, NHL teams will hold exclusive rights to players drafted in their age 18 year (i.e. first-time draft eligible players) for four years. NHL teams will hold exclusive negotiating rights for players drafted in their age 19 year or later (i.e., re-entry players) for three years. The exception for college students will continue, however, with NHL teams holding exclusive rights beyond the time period that would ordinarily apply until 30 days after the drafted player is finished with his college hockey career.

Separately, the new agreement will likely change a key player development rule. Under existing agreements, NHL teams could not assign players drafted out of the CHL directly to the AHL without first offering them back to their CHL teams until the player’s age 20 season. This left NHL teams with a juniors-or-NHL choice for many 19-year-old players who would have likely benefited from an intermediate step.

Under the new agreement, the NHL and NHLPA agreed that beginning in the 2026-27 season, one 19-year-old player per NHL team drafted out of the CHL can be assigned directly to the AHL. Importantly, this rule change will require agreement from the CHL in the form of an amendment to the CHL Transfer Agreement. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic has recently reported that these conversations have happened, and the CHL has been receptive to the change this time around.

Kraken takeaways: After drafting advanced, skilled CHL forwards at the top of the 2022 and 2024 NHL Drafts, the Kraken have been frustrated by the rule preventing CHL players younger than 20 years old from playing in the AHL for a few years now. As a 19-year-old, Berkly Catton will face an NHL-or-juniors inflection point this fall, as Wright did previously.

In contrast, the 18-year-old Jake O’Brien may be the first Kraken prospect to receive the benefit of this rule next summer—assuming his development goes as hoped in the interim. O’Brien already signed his NHL entry-level contract, which rules out the NCAA ranks as a development option for him. Before this rule change, he would have been in the same position Catton is in now. Instead, the path to the AHL is open for him.

Concluding thoughts

There are more pragmatic changes and fixes in the new agreement too—from full-time, club-employed emergency backup goalies to mandatory neck protection, off-season on-ice work with skills coaches (if player initiated), new streamlined procedures for submitting no-trade lists, and one additional post-trade-deadline player recall. With the salary cap rising again and enough wealth to share between the owners and the players, the focus in the 2025 MOU seemed to be on addressing problem areas.

One change—mandating that 75 calendar days elapse between two clubs retaining salary on the same player contract in consecutive trades—is a bit of a head scratcher. Setting that one aside, though, the new agreement contains a number of sensible, incremental improvements that will be significant for the Kraken and teams across the league soon.

* * *

Which CBA changes stand out to you? Do you have any other CBA or contract-related questions? Reach out to us in the comments below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.