The 2025-26 NHL regular season is set to begin on Tuesday with a thrilling tripleheader. The action will begin at 5 p.m. ET, when the defending-champion Florida Panthers host the Chicago Blackhawks. The Pittsburgh Penguins will then visit the New York Rangers before the Colorado Avalanche visit the Los Angeles Kings.
The Panthers, of course, will raise their latest Stanley Cup championship banner and begin their quest for a third consecutive championship.
The race to the Stanley Cup Final will look just a little different this year. Though fans won’t notice any significant rule changes, the new season will bring a few tweaks. Here’s what to know ahead of the opener.
Over the summer, the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The most notable change brought by the new CBA is the expansion to an 84-game season with a shortened preseason. However, that won’t go into effect until next year.
Maximum contract lengths will be shortened next season—to seven years with the current team or six years with a new team—and teams can establish a full-time emergency backup goaltender in 2026.
A few rules were expedited to take effect this year. Arguably the most significant involves changes to how teams can use long-term injured reserve (LTIR). The new CBA will limit the cap space gained from placing a player on LTIR to the previous season’s average salary.
The change is meant to prevent teams from placing high-salary players on injured reserve only to activate them for the postseason—thereby circumventing the salary cap. Franchises will only gain full cap relief if a player is placed on LTIR and designated as unable to play for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.
In other words, if a team wants to save an injured player’s entire salary, he can’t be made eligible for a return.
According to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, the change comes after years of the league investigating to use of LTIR to circumvent the cap:
“The NHL has investigated each occurrence of teams using LTIR and then having players return for the playoffs, finding nothing actionable—although the league is currently investigating the Edmonton Oilers use of LTIR for Evander Kane, who sat out the regular season and returned in the first round of the most recent postseason.”
The new CBA will also relax the league’s dress code, which will no longer require players to wear jackets and ties to games and while traveling.
A few in-game rules have had slight tweaks that fans may notice.
The language used to specify a high-sticking penalty was tweaked. A hit above the shoulders will only be considered high-sticking “provided their shoulders are at waist level or higher.”
The term “skate,” as it relates to offside calls, is now defined as the blade part of the skate only. A hand pass will no longer be considered a violation if the puck deflects off of a player’s hand but no advantage is gained.
Referees are also empowered by the new CBA to use “common sense” for any situation or rule that isn’t explicitly covered in the rule book.
The Stanley Cup format will remain largely unchanged this year. 16 teams will qualify for the postseason, with the top three teams in each division making up the top 12 seeds. Two wild-card teams from each conference will join the bracket.
Home-ice advantage in the first two rounds will go to the team that finished higher in the regular-season standings. During the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final, home ice will belong to the team with the better regular-season record, regardless of standing.
Matchups in all four rounds will be best-of-seven series.
The one notable change to the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year is the implementation of a postseason salary cap. Along with the changes to LTIR, the postseason cap is meant to prevent teams from gaming the system.
Beginning with this year’s playoffs, teams will be required to have a cap-compliant 20-man roster for every playoff game. Full regular-season cap hits will be used to determine a team’s postseason salary.