Montreal Canadiens

“Dumbest Story of the Deadline” Shouldn’t Have Been an Issue

This season’s NHL trade deadline was quiet compared to expectations. Why? Even if GMs were aware of the new rules, did so little happen?

by
NHL Trade Talk
March 9, 2026

Sean McIndoe of The Athletic writes that this season’s NHL trade deadline wasn’t a total dud, but it wasn’t exactly a thriller. There were a handful of last-minute deals, including one that included Nazem Kadri, announced nearly an hour after the deadline ended. However, some storylines were odd.

The scribe writes:

“The dumbest story of the deadline — … had to be GMs being surprised by the CBA, right? I mean, I knew about the changes to double-retention and playoff caps. I’m guessing you did, too. But the 32 GMs, whose whole job is to know this stuff? Apparently, at least a few of them were caught off guard.”

Pierre LeBrun wrote at the beginning of March, “When new CBA details began to surface last June around the draft, I remember being surprised by the banning of double salary retention (third-party brokers). Technically, as the new rule reads, a second retention on the same contract can happen 75 regular-season days later.” He added, “So it’s not entirely banned, but the rule does nix double retentions in the moment at the trade deadline. Which was the point.”

The league also squashed opportunities for GMs to spend over the cap during the regular season, then bring those players back for the playoffs.

“I think those two changes took the oil out of the machine,” one agent said.

This Wasn’t New Information

The surprise here is that GMs all knew about these rules long before the deadline. They also had an entire Olympic break to find workarounds if they wanted to be active. Yes, it takes two to tango in a trade, but the number of teams that did very little was somewhat shocking. Then, when you have teams like Toronto making moves at the last minute, or deals coming so late at the deadline, it suggests there were decisions left down to the final moments.

The Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, and Vegas Golden Knights were practically silent. McIndoe wrote, “By Tuesday, we were wondering where all the deals were.”

Next: Maple Leafs Made Critical Mistake During Trade Deadline