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NHL trade deadline hit by new playoff cap rules, GMs call rollout bush league
Photo credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Greg Wyshynski reported NHL teams are furious the expedited playoff cap and LTIR changes hit this 2025-26 trade deadline, and one exec called it "bush league."
The hard number is $95.5 million, and the squeeze is real when every add has to fit under it now.
The new playoff cap counting forces teams to submit a 20-man lineup that stays under the upper limit, even when injured stars return.
The LTIR tweak bites too, because relief can be capped at the prior season's average league salary unless a player is declared out through the playoffs.
Dallas did it with injured forward Tyler Seguin, turning $3.82 million of relief into his full $9.85 million cap hit.
"It's bush league."
That's the backdrop for Pittsburgh, where Kyle Dubas has to hunt value without the old late-season loopholes.
It also reshapes how the Penguins can weaponize retention, because double-retention timing rules can kill three-team math at the deadline.
Wyshynski's story made the point bluntly, teams planned all summer, then got the briefing in September.
Kyle Dubas and Pittsburgh Penguins feel the cap pinch
If you're a Penguins fan, it's hard not to feel like the league just moved the goalposts mid-shift.
On-ice, it pushes Pittsburgh toward depth pieces who can actually skate in a bottom-six role, not just "name" rentals.
An agent in the story even predicted more deals in the $1.5 million-and-under lane.
That's where teams like the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, and Calgary Flames feel it too, because nobody wants dead cap in April.
The new rules might "even the playing field," but they also punish the smartest cap teams.
Friday's deadline is still coming fast, and Pittsburgh's next move probably looks smaller, faster, and cheaper than fans want.
Also read on HockeyUnplugged :
Penguins emerge as playoff fit for Brock Boeser with $7.25M cap hit, trade buzz grows
Penguins emerge as playoff fit for Brock Boeser with $7.25M cap hit, trade buzz grows
Previously on HockeyUnplugged
| POLL | ||
MARS 3|153 ANSWERS NHL trade deadline hit by new playoff cap rules, GMs call rollout bush league Should GMs push back publicly on the new playoff cap and LTIR rules? | ||
| Yes | 103 | 67.3 % |
| No | 50 | 32.7 % |
| List of polls | ||