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If you're an old NHL fan like me, when CBA's are brought up, it immediately gives me anxiety. In 2004, an NHL lockout resulted in the cancellation of the entire season, which revolved around a salary cap. That lockout is the reason the Blue Jackets are celebrating their 25th anniversary in 25-26, instead of last season. 

In 2012, the NHL again locked out the players, mainly over, you guessed it, money, resulting in a shortened 48-game schedule. The season didn't start until mid-January, and ultimately, the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs due to a tiebreaker. 

Fast forward to 2025, and here we are again - Time for a new CBA. But this time, it seems that the two sides are have agreed to a framework on a four-year extension to the collective bargaining agreement. 

Per reports, an agreement could be announced as soon as Friday on a Memorandum of Understanding that would extend the labor agreement. The extension would start on Sept. 16, 2026, and go through Sept. 15, 2030. This is very good news. 

So what are the details and how will it affect the Blue Jackets players? 

• 84-game regular seasons beginning in 2026-27. Shortening the preseason to an expected four games per team, players with 100-plus career games played can play in a maximum of two preseason games.
• Player contracts will be limited to a maximum of seven years for players re-signing with their current teams and six years for players who are unrestricted free agents. This is down from 8 and 7.
• The massive jumps in the salary cap will be official - $95.5 million, $104 million and $113 million.
• Closing the LTIR loophole for teams to stack payroll by using the injury relief rule.
• Signing rights to draft picks will be the same for everyone until age 22, no matter what league prospects are picked from or where they go next.
• No more deferred salaries to try to lower cap hits.
• Making the EBUG a full-time spot with the team, so that amateurs are no longer allowed to play.
• No more player dress code for players arriving at or leaving games.

There are a few other rules involving player benefits and such as well. 

All of the new pieces of the CBA are going to be great for the league and players. More money for the players, and more games for the fans, has to be the two biggest pieces of this. I am 100% for more regular season and less preseason. 

Now, if only they could get to the point where the season starts earlier and ends earlier, we could have the perfect NHL. End the season no later than Memorial Day, and start earlier in September.

Let us know what you think below.

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Blue Jackets Rumors: K'Andre Miller To Columbus?With the NHL Draft just a few days away and the start of free agency a week away, the NHL's silly season is in full swing, and the Blue Jackets look to be involved at some point. 

Blue Jackets Announce Times & Dates For 2025 Development CampWith the 2025 NHL Draft coming on Friday, the Blue Jackets have announced the 2025 Development Camp schedule. It will again be held at the OhioHealth Ice Haus. 

Blue Jackets Rumors: Rasmus Andersson A Trade Target? With each passing day, more rumors about the Columbus Blue Jackets being involved in trades keep popping up. Two days from the Draft and nothing has changed. 

Columbus Blue Jackets 2025 Draft Target: Jackson SmithWell, we've officially reached the end of the 2025 draft targets. Today is going to be the last one before the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday. After today, my colleague Jason Newland and I will continue with draft content, however, it will be more geared towards mock drafts and big boards.

Earlier this month, Montreal Canadiens’ blueliner Lane Hutson was declared the winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie, and with good reason, he played a historic season.

Hutson wasn’t the only rookie to have an impressive season in town, however. On Wednesday, the PWHL held its award show and named six players to its All-Rookie Team. Half of them were members of the Montreal Victoire: blueliners Cayla Barnes and Anna Wilgren, and forward Jennifer Gardiner.

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You may recall Gardiner from the Canadiens’ skills competition in February, where she won the accuracy shooting event, hitting all four targets in under 10 seconds. While some might have expected Nick Suzuki or Cole Caufield to come out on top in that event, it was the Victoire rookie who stole the show.

Unfortunately for the PWHL outfit, though, the Victoire won’t be able to count on those great rookies next season, all three were lost during the expansion draft and signing period of the new Vancouver and Seattle franchises. Can you imagine the reaction in Montreal if Lane Hutson had been lost to an expansion draft? That can happen when you’re only allowed to protect three players. If you thought the NHL expansion rules were too lenient with the Vegas Golden Knights, take a look at what’s going on in the PWHL.

Montreal had 3 players on the all rookie team, and they’re now all gone #PWHL#GoVictoireGohttps://t.co/CbzAK6YVH1

— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) June 25, 2025

Meanwhile, Hutson will be back in Montreal for his sophomore season, and the city is already buzzing with excitement at the thought of witnessing Ivan Demidov’s rookie offering.

Thankfully, the three standout rookies weren’t the only players honoured by the league. Netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens was named goaltender of the year, Kori Chrverie won the title of coach of the year (unlike Martin St-Louis who finished third in voting for the Jack Adams Trophy), and Marie-Philip Poulin was named forward of the year and MVP. As for Laura Stacey, she won the Hockey for All Award as the player who made the most significant impact in her community.

It will be interesting to see if both Montreal teams manage to make the playoffs this coming season. Both were eliminated in the latest campaign, but they were both in the first round. While taking part in the Spring dance exceeded expectations for the Habs, the Victoire was expected to reach the Walter Cup Final but failed.

Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

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The Chicago Blackhawks have numerous trade targets that make sense for them. The 2025 NHL Draft isn’t producing NHL-ready players out of the gate, and Chicago may not consider pursuing the big-money free agents due to its place in the rebuild. 

That leaves trades as the next option to improve the roster headed into next season. One target that made sense for the Chicago Blackhawks, JJ Peterka, is now off the board. 

The Buffalo Sabres traded Peterka to the Utah Mammoth in exchange for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan. Buffalo is getting two good players with upside, but Utah is getting a blossoming star who also happens to be young. 

Peterka, 23, is a forward who just had a breakout season on a struggling Sabres team. He scored 27 goals with 41 assists for 68 points in 77 games. He is blossoming into a legitimate star in the NHL. With him on the block, every team was interested. 

Peterka would have looked nice alongside talented players like Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, but that can’t be the case anymore. Instead, he will join forces with Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller, and a Mammoth team ready to take a step in the standings. 

This isn’t, however, the end of the young talent line on the trade block in the NHL. Kyle Davidson and his staff have options to consider; the first big domino is just off the board. As the draft gets closer, moves will continue to be made across the league. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

LOS ANGELES -- The odds of the New York Islanders drafting Matthew Schaefer No. 1 overall and then finding a way to trade back into the first round to draft Long Island native James Hagens were slim.

But it wasn't zero, and a late trade on Wednesday night may have opened the door for that pipeline dream for the fan base to be a reality. 

Before midnight, the Buffalo Sabres parted ways with young stud forward J.J. Peterka, sending him to the Utah Mammoth. The question was, was Utah's fourth overall pick in play?

It was not. Instead, the Sabres acquired Josh Doan, the son of Arizona Coyotes legend Shane Doan, along with right-side defenseman Matthew Kesselring.

Hearing the JJ Peterka deal to Utah is for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan.

Three players, no picks.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 26, 2025

Now, the Islanders and the Sabres had talked Peterka for right-side defenseman Noah Dobson. 

Buffalo wanted to acquire a RHD who could play alongside Owen Power. Kesselring isn't that guy, and had Utah moved the fourth overall pick to the Sabres, there was probably still dialogue to be had between Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche and Sabres Kevyn Adams. 

However, with the pick staying in Utah, with them needing a top-flight RHD, is there a situation in which the Islanders could send them Dobson for pick No. 4?

The talk since arriving in Los Angeles has not only been that Utah is actively shopping their pick, but also the fact that Hagens could slide down to as far as No. 10, given the needs of the teams drafting prior. 

It wouldn't be an issue for the Islanders to draft Hagens at No. 4, but it just sounds like he will, in fact, fall on draft night. The farther Hagens does fall, the cheaper it will be to make a deal.

But, an opposing team should be asking for Dobson in any deal for the Hagens pick. 

Keep an eye on the Boston Bruins, who select at No. 7, if Hagens falls that far. There's been dialogue between them and the Islanders. 

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PHOTO: David Reginek-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Blues and New York Islanders are apparently each testing the market on key pieces of their core.

Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche is doing his due diligence on 25-year-old defenseman Noah Dobson, who is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

And there is word that the Blues are one of those teams that have inquired about the D-man, and general manager Doug Armstrong is quietly seeing what the market is for 27-year-old Jordan Kyrou, who is entering the third season of an eight-year deal worth $8.125 million.

His full no-trade clause kicks in July 1, and there is no indication – yet – that the two are tied together, but it is an intriguing possibility.

Both are talented players, but each provides an obstacle for his respective organization.

Dobson, who recorded just 39 points (10 goals, 29 assists) in 71 games, is now a year removed from his 70-point campaign. He and his agency have given the Islanders their number, per industry sources. They can either match that number – the price tag is closer to $10 million than $11 million, which was reported – or they can move him.

Ironically enough, Kyrou reached the 70-point mark this past season, the third time he’s done so in his seven-year NHL career. He recorded 36 goals, one short of his career high, and 34 assists in 82 games.

There is no indication the Blues are willing to move Kyrou, more so listening to see what teams would offer for him before making the full commitment of the remainder of his contract, which includes five years of a full no-trade and the final year of a modified 15-team no-trade list.

Kyrou and Robert Thomas signed matching eight-year contracts July 13, 2022.

Here’s Armstrong on Monday when asked about Kyrou’s no-trade kicking in July 1.

“It’s just part of the process,” he said. “When you’re signing contracts to young players that you think are going to be in your top four forwards or top three D, it’s just standard. They don’t sign it without that. Dates come and go in our business. Whether it’s a no-trade clause kicking in or a trade deadline or whatever. It is what it is.”

While Kyrou is under contract, a long-term deal that includes a full no-trade clause, the Blues have just north of $15.5 million in available cap space and would welcome the chance to get younger on their backend.

Although the Blues have no defensemen coming off the books, Justin Faulk and Nick Leddy aren’t getting any younger.

They would have to move out a veteran or two (Faulk and/or Leddy would be obvious choices) to make the dollars make sense, and not saying that a Dobson-for-Kyrou (or more) swap has been discussed, but it makes for an intriguing option for either side.

The only reason the Blues would even consider something if they deal Kyrou is the leverage they’d lose on July 1, so the clock is ticking on whatever decision they make.

If the Blues are interested in Dobson, he would provide a coveted right-hand defenseman and would be a 1A/1B type with Colton Parayko, play lots of minutes and be an instant power-play quarterback, so it makes sense for them to inquire. In the past two seasons, Dobson has averaged 24:31 and 23:16 ice time.

For the Islanders, moving Dobson for a top-six forward who can play alongside Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat – or either one if Barzal is moved back to center – is critical, especially with the Islanders not having the necessary cap space to upgrade that position in free agency.

For the Blues, the only way they would part with Kyrou is if they were upgrading at his position. Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson’s name has been mentioned as well as a potential trade candidate. Would a Kyrou-for-Robertson trade make sense if there's no deal to be had for Dobson?

A trade would work out financially for both sides, as the Islanders could fit Kyrou’s $8.13 million on the books if they don’t have to pay Dobson. St. Louis would have north of $23 million in available cap space and could fit Dobson’s price and term.

The question is, how eager are the Blues to move Kyrou, and how eager are the Islanders to move Dobson, if at all?

The expectation is that, by Friday, there will be more clarity on how the Islanders are going to proceed with Dobson.

Right now on the Kyrou front, it’s more smoke than fire, but with their belief in 2022 first-round pick Jimmy Snuggerud and how he was utilized in his early stages of his NHL career, the organization feels he has the tools to be an offensive weapon and someone who showed an uncanny willingness to play a solid 200-foot game.

Stay tuned.

The Hockey News New York Islanders site editor Stefen Rosner contributed to this report.

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