Among the changes coming to the NHL starting with the 2025-26 season is the implementation of a playoff salary cap.
This means every playoff team must dress lineups that comply with the salary cap, eliminating the ability to ice a roster above the cap as has been allowed in past years.
Notable examples of this practice include the Vegas Golden Knights with captain Mark Stone and the Tampa Bay Lightning with Nikita Kucherov, both of whom missed long stretches of the regular season. Their absences allowed their teams to make additional roster moves before the players returned for the postseason.
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Among the teams that drew scrutiny for this practice were the Edmonton Oilers and now-former forward Evander Kane, who missed the entire 2024-25 regular season but returned for the playoffs.
According to Oilers general manager Stan Bowman, the new rule will likely result in fewer moves by clubs at the NHL trade deadline.
“It’ll probably result in less moves, because you’re always looking ahead,” Bowman said.
“In the past, you weren’t as concerned if someone wasn’t coming back for the playoffs. That was fine. We went through that last year. We didn’t know when Evander (Kane) would be back. But now, you’re obviously going to have to have a different analysis of it. If they’re going to be back at all, it’s going to impact what moves you’re going to have to make.”
Bowman knows about using the long-term injured reserve loophole. While he was with the Chicago Blackhawks, they employed the tactic with forward Patrick Kane, who was unavailable for an extended period during the 2014-15 NHL season.
Bowman made several additions to the team at the trade deadline, and Kane returned for the postseason and ultimately helped the Blackhawks win their third Stanley Cup in six seasons.
“I’m fine with it. I have no issue with it,” Bowman said of the new rule. “I think for the most part, it makes sense. I mean, you want to be playing against teams that are similarly situated with the cap.”
The Florida Panthers are another team that recently used the tactic to their advantage, as Matthew Tkachuk was unavailable for the last several weeks of the regular season. During that time, the Panthers made multiple additions to their roster, including defenseman Seth Jones and forward Brad Marchand.