The days of a “flat” salary cap are in the rearview, as the NHL and NHLPA announced exactly how much the cap is projected to increase over the next three seasons. The salary cap ceiling is set at $95.5 million for the 2025-26 season, $104 million for the 2026-27 season, and $113.5 million for the 2027-28 season.

Though the current CBA won’t expire until the end of the 2025-26 season and details have yet to be completely ironed out, reports from Tuesday suggest some aspects of the next CBA will be implemented in the 2025-26 season.

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Most notably, a salary cap will now be in effect during the playoffs, and there will be a limit to the benefits teams can receive from placing injured players on LTIR.

Other CBA changes set for 2025-26 implementation:

-No Deferred Salaries (in effect Oct. 7, 2025)

-Player Dress Code Relaxation

-Restriction on Double Retention

-Restriction on Paper Transactions

Although the Anaheim Ducks remain $20.5 million under the salary cap ceiling (the most in the NHL), these new implications could still impact their outlook for 2025-26 and beyond.

During his tenure as general manager of the Ducks (Feb 2022-Present), Pat Verbeek has made minor moves to weaponize the team’s ample cap space, as they’ve been a far cry from the ceiling for the duration of their rebuild. Examples include acquiring a fourth-round pick along with Robby Fabbri in 2024 in exchange for Gage Alexander, acquiring Dmitri Kulikov in 2022 for nothing more than “future considerations,” and infamously attempting to acquire Evgenii Dadonov with a second-round pick attached at the 2022 trade deadline.

Teams often surrounding the Ducks in the standings and in their own rebuilds (San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens, Utah Mammoth, Chicago Blackhawks) were all able to acquire considerable assets (first and second-round picks) attached to albatross contracts from cap-strapped contending teams.

The Ducks will be attempting to, at long last, rise from the fog of their rebuild and contend for the 2026 playoffs. However, if injuries occur or things don’t go completely according to plan, they could find themselves in a situation where they would benefit in the long term from acquiring more draft capital and utilizing their cap space in a meaningful way.

Three teams are currently projected to open the season over the salary cap: Vegas Golden Knights, Canadiens, and Florida Panthers. Cap space will not accrue the same way it had in the past, and teams cannot use LTIR relief to accrue space.

The Canadiens have already been in search of a landing spot for the last year of Carey Price’s $10.5 million contract. The Ducks have not been linked in these talks like the Sharks, Hawks, and Pittsburgh Penguins have, but it’s merely an example of a route Verbeek could take should he desire.

Ducks owner Henry Samueli stated at Joel Quenneville’s introductory press conference that Verbeek was no longer going to be “constrained by the budget” and had the green light to spend to the cap ceiling to get the team back into the playoffs.

We’ll see if that manifests in some way between now and the trade deadline, but the Ducks could be in a rare position to benefit from these immediate CBA implementations, perhaps in unforeseen and creative ways.

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St. Louis Blues defenseman Marco Scandella has retired from professional hockey after 14 NHL seasons.

The 35-year-old played 784 games in the NHL, scoring 51 goals and 179 points, spending his 14-year career playing with four teams, starting with the Minnesota Wild. The Wild drafted Scandella in the second round (55th overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft. 

After 373 games with the Wild, Scandella joined the Buffalo Sabres, where he played 176 games. He then played a short stint with the Montreal Canadiens before joining and finishing his career with the Blues.

Scandella skated in five seasons with the Blues, recording nine goals and 34 points in 215 games. Scandella was a steady third-pairing defenseman with the Blues, willing to step into a top-four role if needed. 

Scandella didn't play any NHL games in the 2024-25 season, and although there were reports that he was retiring last off-season, no official paperwork was submitted, but now it has been confirmed by the St. Louis Blues. 

Ottawa Senators general manager Steve Staios got most of his offseason business done early this summer. But with the start of training camp now just days away, one of the items still on his to-do list was re-signing 23-year-old restricted free agent defenseman Donovan Sebrango.

According to PuckPedia, Sebrango agreed on Wednesday to a one-year, two-way deal with the club for $775,000 (NHL) or $140,000 (AHL), and the Senators made it official on Thursday morning. That leaves defenseman Max Guenette as the last man standing among 2025 RFAs the Sens are still likely to re-sign. 

Sebrango played 50 games for the Belleville Senators last season, putting up eight goals and 20 points. He also made his NHL debut in Ottawa, appearing in two games. The Ottawa native was acquired in 2023 as part of a package deal with the Detroit Red Wings for winger Alex DeBrincat, who had made it clear he wasn’t planning to re-sign in Ottawa as he entered the final year of his contract.

Sebrango's early development as a pro may have been affected by the circumstances of COVID.

With the OHL shutdown for 2020-21, Sebrango jumped right into the pros as an 18-year-old playing for Detroit's AHL team in Grand Rapids, where he spent most of the next three seasons until his trade to Ottawa. If a newly drafted 18-year-old doesn't make his NHL team, his development is not only better off (usually) with a return to junior, but the rules of the CHL-NHL Transfer Agreement demand it.

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That said, Sebrango's re-signing, along with his brief ascension to the NHL last season, suggests he may now be coming into his own at 23. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, he certainly brings good size to the table, and Staios has a fondness for big. Sebrango's athletic bloodlines are strong as well. His father is Eduardo Sebrango, a former MLS star with the Montreal Impact.

Donovan was among the best of his peers in junior, representing Team Canada at the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship and was a third-round pick by the Red Wings in the 2020 NHL Draft. The Senators are set to have five players from that 2020 Draft on their opening night roster: Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson, Ridly Greig, Tyler Kleven, and Leevi Meriläinen.

Perhaps Sebrango will one day emerge as another key NHL piece from that class.

By Steve Warne
This article was first published at The Hockey News-Ottawa

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The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are only months away, and for the first time since 2014, NHL players will participate. Several New Jersey Devils have been named to preliminary rosters, including Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Jonas Siegenthaler, Simon Nemec, and Ondrej Palat. 

The men's tournament will start with preliminary games Feb. 11, with the gold-medal game scheduled for Feb. 22. 

Last season's 4 Nations Face-Off tournament created additional excitement for the upcoming Olympics. It was a massive success as teams representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States played each other in a round-robin format. 

For Hischier, 26, this is his first opportunity to represent Switzerland in the Winter Games.

"I feel that as an athlete in general, this is something that you want to experience," he said to David Pagnotta and Dennis Bernstein of SiriusXM NHL Network Radio during the NHL/NHLPA European Player Media Tour. "For me, obviously, (the Olympics) are something I always dreamed of and something I have never been able to experience yet."

With many players set to make their first appearances, The Hockey News recently asked Devils' head coach Sheldon Keefe if the impending tournament will impact his players during the season. 

"I don't know," he said. "I mean, it is going to be a first for me. Obviously, we had the 4-Nations last year, which is somewhat similar in some sense, except there are many more players who are going to be involved this go around. 

"I think there are a couple of things," he continued. "I think you have guys who are going to be competing for spots for (their respective) countries, who are going to be wanting to get off to great starts and do well and be confident going into that evaluation, and ultimately be named to the team. Then you have others who have either already been named or it is somewhat inevitable that they will be named, and those guys are going to want to have their games in order and make sure that they are healthy." 

The Devils will play over 50 of their 82 games before the Olympic break, and Hischier knows that while the Olympics may be on his mind, his focus needs to be on the team that drafted him first overall in 2017.

"I know there is work to do before (the Winter Games), and that it starts with going back to Jersey, having a great training camp, and having a good season start," he told SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. "My focus is working out and skating and preparing myself for the season start in Jersey, and when the time is right to focus on the Olympics, I will."

Once training camp kicks off on Sept. 17, the Devils will look to improve their mediocre 2024-25 season, where the club finished third in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 42-33-7 and 91 points. New Jersey was eliminated in five games in the first round of the playoffs at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. 

This season will be different with February's events in mind. It may be new territory for Keefe and his players, but the main objective of a deeper playoff run in New Jersey remains at the top of mind as they navigate these unknown waters. 

"Everyone in the league (players, coaches, managers) is going to have to make sure that our players are primed and ready for (the Olympics)," Keefe said. "At the same time, we are making sure that we are focused on our primary goals with the New Jersey Devils and the NHL."

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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For the second season in a row, former Chicago Blackhawks forward Tanner Kero will be playing overseas. 

The Kolner Haie of Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) have announced that they have signed Kero to a one-year contract. 

Kero spent this past season in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) with HV71, where he posted nine goals, 13 assists, and 22 points in 52 games. This was after he spent two previous seasons exclusively in the American Hockey League (AHL), first with the Texas Stars and then the Colorado Eagles.

Kero kicked off his NHL career with the Blackhawks during the 2015-16 season. In 72 games with the Blackhawks over three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-18, he recorded eight goals, 14 assists, and 22 points. This included setting career highs with six goals, 10 assists, and 16 points in 47 games with the Blackhawks in 2016-17.

The last time Kero played at the NHL level was with the Dallas Stars during the 2021-22 season. During that campaign, he recorded three assists, 12 hits, and a minus-5 rating. 

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