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The loophole that helped the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Vegas Golden Knights earn a competitive advantage and win multiple Stanley Cups is finally closed.

No, we're not talking about removing the tax breaks for teams that play in states with no income tax.

But the NHL and NHLPA's reported decision to immediately implement several new changes to the collective bargaining agreement, including a playoff salary cap, could be just as instrumental.

It's about time. Some would argue, this move took way too long.

After all, how many championships have been won and lost because of a salary cap loophole?

Going back a decade, when Chicago's Patrick Kane broke his collarbone a week before the 2015 trade deadline and then remained out until the start of the playoffs, teams have put an injured player on long-term injured reserve, and they have only returned to action in the post-season so the team could add a player and avoid exceeding its cap space during the regular season.

It was a smart move. It was also not in the spirit of the CBA, which aims to provide a level playing field for all 32 teams. Of course, all rules are meant to be broken, or at the very least manipulated. And it didn't take long for teams to realize that being cap compliant only applied to the regular season. If you had a player who was injured, there was nothing stopping a team from waiting until the playoffs to re-activate him from injury, as many teams took advantage of.

In 2020-21, the Tampa Bay Lightning won back-to-back championships while being $18 million over the cap after Nikita Kucherov returned for the playoffs after sitting out for the entire regular season while recovering from surgery. Kucherov, who later trolled critics for his well-timed return, led the playoffs with 32 points.

Two years later, the Golden Knights exploited the same loophole when Mark Stone took until Game 1 of the playoffs before finally returning from back surgery. The NHL investigated Vegas, which was able to acquire Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger and Jonathan Quick, but found no wrongdoing. A year later, Stone remained out again, allowing the Golden Knights to acquire Noah Hanifin, Anthony Mantha and Tomas Hertl at the trade deadline.

This past season, Matthew Tkachuk curiously also remained out until the very start of the playoffs following an injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off. His long-term absence allowed the Panthers to acquire Brad Marchand at the deadline.

None of that can happen again.

New NHL CBA Changes Take Effect Immediately—How They Impact the Maple Leafs This SeasonEarlier this summer, the NHL and NHLPA agreed to a four-year extension of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The deal included a number of amendments. With the current CBA terms expiring at the end of the 2025-26 season, there was a question as to which changes would apply immediately and which would go into effect a year from now when the extension officially kicks in.

Under the new CBA rules, teams must be under the cap limit of $95.5 million for the playoffs. Previously, the salary cap only applied to the regular season, allowing teams to activate injured players once the post-season began. Now, teams will have to submit a playoff roster, where the aggregate cap hit of all active players cannot exceed the upper salary cap limit.

Which means, if you had suspicions that Vegas would activate Alex Pietrangelo for Game 1 of the playoffs after having already announcing it's unlikely his body will recover to the standard required to play NHL-level hockey — think again.

Those days are over.

Then again, with one loophole closing, chances are another will open. Just give it time.

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Once again this year, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has released his rankings of under-23 players that are either in the NHL or on the cusp of it. This time around, the Montreal Canadiens have seven players in the 173-player list. To be eligible, a player must be 22 years old or younger as of September 15, 2025.

The young Habs included in the rankings are Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, David Reinbacher, Zack Bolduc, Michael Hage, and Oliver Kapanen. Pronman’s rankings are divided into six tiers; the first one is for elite NHL players, tier two for NHL All-Stars, tier three for bubble NHL All-Stars and top of the lineup players, tier four for Top of the lineup players, tier five for bubble top and middle of the lineup players, and tier six for middle of the lineup players. Let’s have a look at where each Hab stands.

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Slafkovsky gets the seventh spot in the ranking and is considered in the second tier. Pronman deems his skating average, his puck skills above average, just like his hockey sense, and his compete high-end. The journalist praises the youngster’s use of his big frame and concedes that even if he never reaches the highest of tiers in points total, he could be a star because of the special role he plays.

I’m surprised to see the power forward come so high in the ranking and receive a high-end rating for his compete. Personally, I believe this is what Slafkovsky could eventually be rather than what he is at the moment. It’s been written time and time again that the youngster knows what to do to be successful, but he has yet to manage to do it consistently. I do not doubt that it’s coming, but it’s not there yet. Last year, he was 15th on the list.

The second Canadiens player in the ranking is Demidov, who lands in the second tier as well, in 10th place. Pronman rates his skating as below average, his puck skills as elite, his hockey sense, compete, and shot as above average. Unsurprisingly, it’s the winger skating that makes him go down in the ranking, and anyone who’s watched Demidov play last season knows what the writer means when he mentions his “awkward/knock-kneed skating stride. However, this is one of the areas on which the young Russian has focused this summer in Brossard, and while at times he reverts to that particular style, it’s on the verge of being a thing of the past.

It's tough to argue with the rest of Pronman’s assessment, however, and if I were a betting woman, I’d wager that Demidov will be climbing up those rankings next season, and it’s worth remembering that he is still only 19 years old. Regardless of how you look at it, Demidov should be a diamond in the rough at his age, but he’s not that rough and shows a lot of promise. Last season, he was in 17th position and in the third tier, just like Slafkovsky.

The third Hab to feature in the list is Calder Trophy-winning blueliner Lane Hutson, who lands in 34th place and in the fourth tier. This one is puzzling. Pronman rates his skating as above average, just like his puck skills and compete, while he deems his hockey sense high-end. What makes him slip all the way to 34 then? His defensive play.

The Athletic’s journalist argues that he’s a minor defenseman without high-end feet or physicality, which makes him ill-suited to defend against the top players in the league. I disagree with this statement. I can’t deny that Hutson’s offensive game is better than his defensive game, but he can still defend against the best players. To me, his mobility and compete make up for his lack of physicality, and those who have seen him skate in 82 games last season and five playoff games will agree. Last year, Pronman had him as a tier seven player in 87th place, so that’s a healthy jump. However, expect him to move up in next September’s edition of those rankings; he’ll be 22 by then and in his last year of eligibility.

The next Hab is in tier five and comes in 44th place: David Reinbacher. The article describes his skating and puck skills as average, while his hockey sense and competitiveness are above-average. This is probably Pronman’s most accurate assessment, as he explains that the right-shot defenseman won’t be the best in any category, but is a good all-around defenseman.

This is precisely what the youngster showed last season in the playoffs with the Laval Rocket, and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does at training camp. Given that he was injured in the previous preseason, he may be a bit behind schedule, but defensemen typically take longer to develop, so that’s not an issue. Last year, he was in 69th place in the rankings.

The next Canadiens on the list are all the way down at spot 100, in tier six. Pronman clearly sees the Habs' new acquisition as average, that’s how he evaluates his skating, puck skills, hockey sense, and compete, but does add that his shot is high-end. Last year, he didn’t even make the ranking.

For Pronman, the deficiencies in Bolduc’s game are without the puck; if that’s the case, he landed in the right place. The winger has a good hockey sense, and under Martin St-Louis, he will be given every opportunity to learn how to make the right reads to improve his play without the puck. We won’t see where he lands in these rankings next season, as this is his last year of eligibility.

Next up is Michael Hage, who has dropped from 118th to 131st place in the sixth tier. Pronman considers his skating and hockey sense to be average, his puck skills above average, his compete level below average, and his shot above average.

Despite conceding that Hage has had an impressive freshman season, the journalist notes that the youngster has a history of inconsistency and streakiness, and that playing too much on the outside could hinder his chances of success in the NHL. If this comes to be, the Canadiens’ need for a legitimate number two center will be even greater.

I had noticed that Hage does pick points in bunches, but he’s still very young and has time to turn things around. Furthermore, the culture being developed in Montreal should also enhance the competitive level. When numerous leaders go all in at all times, it’s challenging for a young player to dip his toe in the water.

Finally, Kapanen comes in at number 139 in tier six. His skating is deemed below average, while his puck skills, compete, and shots are above average, and his hockey sense is average. In a nutshell, it’s his footspeed that drags him down the ranking.

Although Pronman believes Kapanen made significant progress last season as a key player with Timra IK, he thinks the youngster's lower foot speed could be a drawback and might lead to him being shifted to the wing. This is Finn’s first appearance in the rankings, and if he improves on his training camp showing from last season, he could make the team and stick around this year.

Having seven players in this ranking and four in the top 100 is quite an impressive feat; some teams do not even have a single player who cracked the top 100, like the New York Rangers, for instance, and it goes to show just how good a job the Canadiens are doing with their rebuild.

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The Philadelphia Flyers knew exactly what they were getting when they selected Jett Luchanko in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft: a remarkably poised, intelligent, and versatile player who was far ahead of his age curve.

What they may not have expected, at least not so soon, is how quickly he’d force them into a developmental riddle with no perfect answer.

At just over 18 years old, Luchanko already turned heads last fall when he made the Flyers’ opening-night roster out of training camp. For four games, fans got a glimpse of what made him such a tantalizing prospect: the smooth skating stride, the vision that makes him look like he’s processing plays in slow motion, and the sheer maturity of his decisions with the puck. He didn’t look overwhelmed. He didn’t look like a kid clinging to a roster spot. He looked like he belonged—or at least, he would belong in short order.

But hockey development rules are nothing if not cruel. The Flyers made the prudent choice to return Luchanko to the OHL’s Guelph Storm before burning the first year of his entry-level contract. It was ultimately the smart move, but anyone who followed him throughout the 2024–25 season could see the problem looming: he was simply too good for junior hockey. On a Storm team that has struggled in recent seasons, Luchanko stood out like a beacon in a fog—his skillset was already past the level of many of his peers. He wasn’t just surviving; he was controlling games.

That leaves the Flyers with a conundrum this fall: what’s the right next step for a player who’s too polished for one level but not quite polished enough for the one above it?

The AHL Problem

In an ideal world, this wouldn’t be an issue at all. The AHL exists precisely for players in Luchanko’s position: a league full of grown men, some still clawing toward NHL careers, others carving out professional lives as reliable minor leaguers. It’s faster, more physical, and tactically closer to the NHL than junior hockey, but still provides space to learn and grow without the spotlight of being in the show.

But, having just turned 19 years old in August, that’s not an option for Luchanko. Players drafted out of the CHL cannot join the AHL until they turn 20 (with very few exceptions). There was a glimmer of hope when reports surfaced earlier this week that a loaning system for 19-year-olds would be coming to the AHL but, ultimately, those reports were untrue (at least right now).

According to a league source, the AHL loan for one 19-year-old player per team is NOT one of the CBA changes that is effective immediately. Therefore, for the #Flyers and Jett Luchanko, it looks like it will either be the NHL or CHL.

— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) September 2, 2025

For Luchanko, it means he’s stuck between two extremes: NHL or OHL.

And that’s where the Flyers have to be delicate. Push him into the NHL before he’s truly ready, and they risk stunting his growth against stronger, smarter competition where mistakes are punished mercilessly. Send him back to the OHL, and they risk wasting another season of his development in games that may not challenge him the way he needs.

What Does “Ready” Really Mean?

One of the fascinating wrinkles with Luchanko is that he already checks many of the boxes teams typically look for when determining NHL readiness. His defensive instincts are mature beyond his years; he backchecks with purpose and reads lanes as if he’s played hundreds of pro games already. His skating is not just good, it’s a real separator—smooth, explosive, and efficient. And his hockey IQ? That’s been his calling card since scouts first started raving about him.

Jett Luchanko has 3 primary assists after just one period against the London Knights (feat. fellow #LetsGoFlyers prospects Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk). Barkey said during training camp that he and Bonk had been trying to get Luchanko on the Knights (but didn’t get very far).

— Siobhan Nolan (@SGNolan) November 10, 2024

But there are still the physical and experiential gaps. He’s still only a teenager, still filling out his frame, and the grind of an 82-game season against the biggest, strongest, and most relentless players in the world is a different beast. Where he might’ve dominated time and space in the OHL, he’ll find that NHL defenders close gaps faster and punish mistakes harder.

That’s why NHL teams typically want that “bridge” step in the AHL. And it’s why the Flyers face such a tricky balance: acknowledging how advanced he is without putting him in a situation where he’s overexposed.

The Flyers’ Development Playbook

For the Flyers, this isn’t uncharted territory. They’ve had to walk this line with young players before—guys like Matvei Michkov (albeit under very different circumstances), Tyson Foerster, or even former Flyer Morgan Frost when he was caught in the limbo of not quite being NHL-caliber but too good for the minors. What Rick Tocchet and Danny Brière will need to decide is whether Luchanko is better off playing limited NHL minutes and learning on the fly, or dominating in the OHL once again while continuing to refine his strengths.

There’s a case for each.

The NHL case: Even in sheltered minutes, practicing every day with NHL players, learning from NHL coaches, and adapting to NHL systems can accelerate development. He doesn’t need to play 20 minutes a night in the big league to benefit; 10–12 thoughtful, situational minutes could expose him to just enough challenge to keep growing.

The OHL case: Sometimes, even if a player looks “too good” for junior, there’s value in confidence, in running the show (Luchanko was named Guelph's captain last season), in having the puck on your stick every night. The Ontario native could benefit from being “the guy” one more year, further building his offensive creativity and continuing to round out his game before the inevitable jump.

What Should the Flyers Do?

The best path forward may lie in a hybrid approach of sorts. Give Luchanko another long look in camp. If he forces their hand—if he looks NHL-ready in more than just flashes—don’t be afraid to keep him in Philadelphia, even if it means managing his usage carefully. Surround him with veterans, give him sheltered matchups, and let him learn.

If he’s close but not quite there, another year in Guelph doesn’t have to be wasted. The Flyers can work closely with the Storm to tailor his development, setting benchmarks for what they want him to accomplish. Dominate offensively. Kill penalties. Drive matchups against top lines. Add strength. In short: make sure it’s not just a “repeat” year but a targeted step in the process.

The Flyers should also explore opportunities for him to spend time with the Phantoms when his OHL season ends. Even a handful of AHL games in the spring could provide that crucial “bridge” experience the CHL–NHL gap often denies.

The Bottom Line

The Flyers drafted Jett Luchanko because he’s the kind of player you build around: smart, versatile, and fearless, with the work ethic to back it all up. But the road to the NHL can have a few potholes (this is Philadelphia, after all), and in his case, the challenge is navigating a system that doesn’t quite fit his timeline.

The Flyers can’t treat him like just another prospect, because he isn’t. He’s already ahead of schedule. But they also can’t treat him like a savior ready to carry NHL minutes when he's barely 19. The margin between those two extremes will define his next season—and possibly the shape of his career.

One thing is certain: this is a good problem to have. Players like Luchanko are real gems to have in the pipeline, and while the Flyers may be wrestling with how to handle him, they’ll take that problem every time. Because whether it’s in Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley (eventually), or one last year in Guelph, Jett Luchanko’s trajectory is pointed exactly where the Flyers want it to go: straight up.

Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman made several moves during the off-season to bolster his roster for the coming season.

Yzerman's most notable deal was acquiring goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks. He also shed the remaining year of Vladimir Tarasenko's contract, shipping him and his $4.75 million average annual value to the Minnesota Wild.

The Wings GM also re-signed right winger Patrick Kane and turned to the UFA market for veteran depth, signing James van Riemsdyk, Travis Hamonic, Mason Appleton, Ian Mitchell and Jacob Bernard-Docker.

However, a significant move to add a top-four defenseman or a top-six forward failed to materialize.

Max Bultman of The Athletic was asked if Yzerman might address one or both needs before the regular season begins. He suggested that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson and a Penguins winger, such as Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell, might be the best options.

Karlsson, Rust and Rakell regularly surfaced in this summer's trade rumors. However, Bultman's not expecting any of them to don the Winged Wheel jersey, citing Karlsson's expensive contract and the Penguins' asking price of a first-round pick for Rust or Rakell.

Earlier this summer, the Red Wings were linked to Ducks center Mason McTavish in the rumor mill. Some observers suggested the close ties between Yzerman and Ducks GM Pat Verbeek could make Detroit a landing spot for the 22-year-old RFA center, but Bultman doubted Verbeek would part with McTavish.

Bultman also suggested that the Wings monitor high-scoring winger Kyle Connor's contract status with the Winnipeg Jets. The 28-year-old Michigan native is UFA-eligible next summer. Bultman doubted the Jets would move him this early in the season if he remains unsigned, but suggested the Wings should be ready to inquire just in case.

Turning to the Chicago Blackhawks, Frank Seravalli of Bleacher Report noted they still haven't signed RFA defenseman Wyatt Kaiser.

Seravalli indicated that the Blackhawks have nine or 10 young NHL-ready defensemen on their blueline. They could end up shopping one of them, but he doesn't anticipate Kaiser will be a trade candidate.

Four of the Blackhawks' young rearguards – Artyom Levshunov, Kevin Korchinski, Sam Linzel and Nolan Allen – are waiver-exempt, so they could demote one or two if necessary. They could also attempt to trade Connor Murphy, who is UFA-eligible next July, though that move would take away their most experienced blueliner.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.