The days of a “flat” salary cap are in the rearview, as the NHL and NHLPA announced exactly how much the cap is projected to increase over the next three seasons. The salary cap ceiling is set at $95.5 million for the 2025-26 season, $104 million for the 2026-27 season, and $113.5 million for the 2027-28 season.
Though the current CBA won’t expire until the end of the 2025-26 season and details have yet to be completely ironed out, reports from Tuesday suggest some aspects of the next CBA will be implemented in the 2025-26 season.
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Most notably, a salary cap will now be in effect during the playoffs, and there will be a limit to the benefits teams can receive from placing injured players on LTIR.
Other CBA changes set for 2025-26 implementation:
-No Deferred Salaries (in effect Oct. 7, 2025)
-Player Dress Code Relaxation
-Restriction on Double Retention
-Restriction on Paper Transactions
Although the Anaheim Ducks remain $20.5 million under the salary cap ceiling (the most in the NHL), these new implications could still impact their outlook for 2025-26 and beyond.
During his tenure as general manager of the Ducks (Feb 2022-Present), Pat Verbeek has made minor moves to weaponize the team’s ample cap space, as they’ve been a far cry from the ceiling for the duration of their rebuild. Examples include acquiring a fourth-round pick along with Robby Fabbri in 2024 in exchange for Gage Alexander, acquiring Dmitri Kulikov in 2022 for nothing more than “future considerations,” and infamously attempting to acquire Evgenii Dadonov with a second-round pick attached at the 2022 trade deadline.
Teams often surrounding the Ducks in the standings and in their own rebuilds (San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens, Utah Mammoth, Chicago Blackhawks) were all able to acquire considerable assets (first and second-round picks) attached to albatross contracts from cap-strapped contending teams.
The Ducks will be attempting to, at long last, rise from the fog of their rebuild and contend for the 2026 playoffs. However, if injuries occur or things don’t go completely according to plan, they could find themselves in a situation where they would benefit in the long term from acquiring more draft capital and utilizing their cap space in a meaningful way.
Three teams are currently projected to open the season over the salary cap: Vegas Golden Knights, Canadiens, and Florida Panthers. Cap space will not accrue the same way it had in the past, and teams cannot use LTIR relief to accrue space.
The Canadiens have already been in search of a landing spot for the last year of Carey Price’s $10.5 million contract. The Ducks have not been linked in these talks like the Sharks, Hawks, and Pittsburgh Penguins have, but it’s merely an example of a route Verbeek could take should he desire.
Ducks owner Henry Samueli stated at Joel Quenneville’s introductory press conference that Verbeek was no longer going to be “constrained by the budget” and had the green light to spend to the cap ceiling to get the team back into the playoffs.
We’ll see if that manifests in some way between now and the trade deadline, but the Ducks could be in a rare position to benefit from these immediate CBA implementations, perhaps in unforeseen and creative ways.
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