NHL, NHLPA agree to extend collective bargaining agreement four seasons

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman speaks during a news conference ahead of Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final, in Edmonton, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

LOS ANGELES — The NHL and NHL Players’ Association are set to have labour peace through the 2029-30 season.

The league and its union announced Friday that the two sides have agreed to an extension of their collective bargaining agreement that includes an expansion of the regular season from 82 to 84 games.

The NHL and NHLPA, which agreed to a memorandum of understanding through negotiations that began in April, revealed details of the pact Friday ahead of the first round of the league’s draft.

The extension still requires ratification on both sides.

The two sides had previously described talks as positive, a far cry from the boardroom strife that has gripped the sport in the past and led to a number of work stoppages, including a lockout that doomed the entire 2004-05 campaign.

Along with adding two games per team to the regular-season schedule and truncating exhibition play, early reports said the CBA will see a shortening of the maximum length of contracts and the addition of a playoff salary cap.

Players have been able to re-sign with their current team for up to eight years since 2013 and sign a contract with another club for seven years. The new CBA would reportedly see both scenarios cut by one season.

The playoff salary cap, meanwhile, would prevent teams from using long-term injured reserve loopholes to load up rosters ahead of the post-season.

Previous rules allowed teams with players on long-term injured reserve to exceed the salary cap by roughly the same amount as the injured player’s salary until the playoffs.

A consistent complaint from certain teams and fan bases alike, the Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights are among the clubs to have used the system to load up for post-season runs.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier this month during the Stanley Cup final that talks on a new CBA were going well and that the sides were “having really good discussions.”

NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh added at the time: “I feel good with where we are.”

The league and union have been working off the memorandum negotiated to finish the 2019-20 season during the COVID-19 pandemic. This new deal melds that agreement with the framework from 12 years ago, after the 2012-13 campaign was reduced to 48 games because of a lockout.

By Joshua Clipperton.