NHL, NHLPA nearing four-year CBA extension featuring 84-game season, increased salary cap, and more

There’s no need to worry about the NHL having a lockout anytime soon.

The NHL and NHLPA are closing in on a four-year CBA extension which, according to Daily Faceoff‘s Frank Seravalli, will “create labour peace that will provide jet fuel for hockey’s growth over the next half decade.”

The proposed four-year extension would begin on September 16, 2026, and run through September 15, 2030. With one year remaining on the current deal, it would give the NHL five consecutive years of labour stability. That’s a significant development for a league with three prior work stoppages and would mark the earliest CBA extension reached during Gary Bettman’s 32 years as commissioner.

The NHL and NHLPA last extended the CBA in 2020 to address return-to-play plans and pandemic-related revenue losses. The salary cap remained flat for several years but is now set to rise as players have finished repaying the aforementioned revenue shortfall debt to the owners. Next year’s cap is set at $95.5 million and it’ll jump to $113 million by 2027-28.

Here are some other key aspects of the new CBA, per Seravalli.

• The NHL will move to 84-game regular seasons beginning in 2026-27. The pre-season will be shortened to an expected four games per team. Players with 100-plus career games played can play in a maximum of two preseason games.
• Player contracts will be term-limited to a maximum of seven years for players re-signing with their current club and six years for players on the free agent market. The 2025-26 season (next week’s free agency) will mark the final eight-year deals in the NHL.
• A comprehensive playoff salary cap mechanism, which has many machinations to account for player acquisition, will effectively close the LTIR loophole for teams to significantly pad payroll by using injury relief space.
• Signing rights to draft picks will be uniform across the board until age 22, regardless of the league from which prospects are picked or which league they matriculate to next. In other words, if an 18-year-old CHL player is drafted but decides to play NCAA, a team will still hold his rights for four years.
• Outlawing of player deferred salary in contracts, which previously lowered the cap hit of deals. This is one example of significantly more stringent contractual limitations that are expected to be in the new CBA for players.
• Revenue split will remain 50/50 between owners and players. There are not expected to be changes to the definitions of what constitutes hockey-related revenue (HRR).
• Significant increase in Stanley Cup playoff bonus pool fund, nearly doubling the previous amount.
• Establishment of ‘full-time’ Emergency Backup Goalie (EBUG) position within organizations so that amateur goalies signed out of beer leagues are not entering games in rare injury circumstances.
• Landmark player benefit improvements (health insurance and post-playing health insurance stipends), plus movement of player payroll taxes and workers’ compensation premiums to be paid out of the owners’ share.
• Teams will no longer be able to mandate player dress code for arriving/departing games.
• As previously announced in February, the next three seasons of the salary cap’s upper limit are: $95.5 million, $104 million and $113 million.