The Daily: Playoff Salary Cap This Season in NHL; Long-Time Minor Leaguer dies

When the NHL general manager meetings wrapped up in Detroit this week, GM Bill Daly confirmed the new NHL playoff cap will be implemented this season. The change was included in the recently negotiated CBA by owners and players.

In the past, there was no salary cap for the postseason, allowing teams with injured players from the regular season to return to the playoff lineup with no regard to whether the team exceeded the league salary cap. That gave those teams a competitive advantage.

According to ESPN, other new changes include dropping the dress code for players, deferred compensation in contracts and allowing players to endorse wine and spirits. Plus, the CBA ends double salary retention in trades. That was commonplace at the NHL trade deadline, with teams retaining part of a player’s salary between trading him to another team that retained another percentage of the contract before that player was then sent to his new club.

With GM/coaches meeting wrapped in Detroit, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed there will be a salary cap in the playoffs this season. The implantation of the playoff cap is still something being ironed out, Daly added. I asked him if a cap-compliant roster submission…

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) September 3, 2025

Red Wings in Case You Missed It

Klim Kostin says coaches wanted him to play like a goon when he was in Detroit.

Detroit prospect Brady Cleveland left Colorado to play at Minnesota-Duluth. He is now Red Wings prospect Max Plante’s teammate.

Dylan Larkin is rising on a Detroit list that no one wants to be on — most games in Detroit without a Stanley Cup championship.

Red Wings Extra

Long-time minor league standout Lonnie Loach, who played a short time with the Detroit Red Wings affiliate in Glens Falls, N.Y, has died at age 57. He played 56 NHL games for Ottawa, Los Angeles and Anaheim, scoring 10 goals. Loach played for 14 different minor league teams.

The NHL Alumni Association is deeply saddened to learn that Lonnie Loach has passed away at the age of 57.

Lonnie was a standout player for the OHL’s Guelph Platers, winning the OHL’s Rookie of the Year award in 1986 en route to winning the 1986 Memorial Cup with the Platers.… pic.twitter.com/9tBbgTSvoe

— NHL Alumni (@NHLAlumni) September 3, 2025

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