Maple Leafs & Oilers GMs give their honest opinion about NHL's new playoff salary cap rule coming into effect in upcoming postseason 

The NHL confirmed on Wednesday that a playoff salary cap will come into effect starting with the 2025-26 season, as outlined in the new CBA. The change has sparked plenty of discussion among general managers across the league.

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving pointed out that teams spend the entire 82-game regular season managing to a salary cap, so it makes sense that the same rules should carry into the playoffs.

“At the end of the day, when you look at the 10,000-foot view, there’s logic to it, right? .... Certainly, there’s nuances and you see it every year where there is injuries, right? Which opens up space,” he said (per The Athletic)

Treliving admitted that he and his staff had anticipated something like this since the CBA talks, and now he’s curious to see how the rule will be structured.

Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman echoed the idea that the new rule will have a noticeable impact, particularly on roster decisions.

“It’ll probably result in less moves, because you’re always looking ahead. 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," Bowman said.

Bowman also recalled how last year the Oilers didn’t know when Evander Kane would return, and under the new cap rules, a situation like that would have forced a different approach.

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Bill Daly weighs in on NHL’s new playoff salary cap rule

Rather than waiting for the current CBA to expire in September 2026, the league and NHLPA chose to roll out the changes early as a part of the four-year extension signed in late June.

Starting with the 2026 NHL playoffs, the new CBA requires every team to ice a 20-man roster that fits under the cap for each postseason game. After the GMs and coaches meeting, Bill Daly said:

“We’ve agreed on a framework for implementation. There will be a playoff cap this year. There will be changes to (long-term injured reserve) for this year. The exact implementation details of the cap are still being worked through.’’

The NHL is also planning adjustments to the way long-term injured reserve is handled, but the finer details won’t be settled until just before the season begins.