The 2027 NHL trade deadline is expected on Monday, 1 March 2027, at 3 p.m. ET. It will be the second deadline under the playoff salary cap that closed the long-term injured reserve loophole, and the rules change what a contender can buy.
| 2027 NHL trade deadline at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Date | Monday, 1 March 2027 (expected) |
| Time | 3 p.m. ET (expected) |
| End of regular season | Saturday, 10 April 2027 (confirmed) |
| Salary cap and playoff cap | $104 million |
| Maximum LTIR relief for a returning player | $3,973,228 |
| Games played by the deadline | Roughly 64 of 84 |
When is the 2027 NHL trade deadline?
Monday, 1 March 2027, is the expected date. Under the collective bargaining agreement, the deadline falls 40 days before the end of the regular season, and the NHL’s schedule release confirms the season ends on Saturday, 10 April 2027. Count back 40 days and you land on Monday, 1 March. Michael Russo of The Athletic has reported the same date.
The rule gives way when the date lands on a weekend, and the deadline moves to a weekday. 1 March 2027 is a Monday, so there is no reason to move it.
What time is the NHL trade deadline?
3 p.m. ET has been the deadline time every year since at least 2024. No time has been published for 2027. By then, teams will have played roughly 64 of their 84 games, about 76 percent of the season.
Is there a salary cap in the NHL playoffs?
Yes, since the 2026 playoffs. Before each playoff game, a team submits its 18 skaters and two goaltenders, and their combined cap hits must fit under the ceiling: $104 million for the 2027 playoffs. The lineup is due at the NHL Central Registry by 3 p.m. local time or five hours before the game, whichever is earlier, Bill Daly told NHL.com when the rule was agreed.
Before that, there was no playoff cap at all, and teams used the gap. Park an injured star on long-term injured reserve, spend the cap relief at the deadline, then activate him for Game 1.
Tampa Bay did it in 2021 with Nikita Kucherov’s $9.5 million cap hit, which helped land David Savard. Vegas did it in 2023 with Mark Stone’s $9.5 million, which paid for Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger and Jonathan Quick. Florida did it in 2025 with Matthew Tkachuk, adding Seth Jones and Brad Marchand. Three championships in five years, across three franchises.
The details that matter at the deadline, as PuckPedia’s guide to the new cap rules sets them out:
- Full cap hits, not pro-rated. A player acquired on 1 March counts at his full annual cap hit in the playoffs.
- Dead cap counts. Buyouts, buried contracts and cap-recapture penalties all go against the number.
- Retained salary works against the buyer. The retaining team’s share is pro-rated by the regular-season days left, but the acquiring team carries its part in full. Retention buys less playoff room than regular-season room.
- Injured players do not count, because they are not dressed.
What is LTIR in the NHL?
Long-term injured reserve. A team whose player is expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days can place him on LTIR and spend above the salary cap by up to that player’s cap hit while he is out. It was built to stop injuries from crippling a roster. Before the playoff cap, it also let contenders spend a star’s salary at the deadline and then get the star back for the playoffs.
How did the NHL change the LTIR rules?
It capped the relief. A team that puts a player on LTIR who is expected to return that season now gets relief only up to the previous season’s average league salary, whatever the player earns. For 2026-27 that is $3,973,228, PuckPedia reported from the league’s figures. Full relief is available only if the player is ruled out for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, in which case he can’t return that year.
So a $12 million star on LTIR now generates under $4 million of deadline buying power instead of $12 million. The playoff cap stops him from being activated for Game 1, and the LTIR limit stops the relief being spent in the first place.
What are the NHL’s rules after the trade deadline?
A player must be on a team’s roster at the 3 p.m. deadline to be eligible for the playoffs. A player acquired after it cannot play for his new team for the rest of the regular season or the playoffs.
There is also a new limit on retaining salary. A contract that has already had salary retained cannot be retained again within 75 regular-season days, CapWages notes. That rules out a second retention on the same contract at the deadline.
How busy will the 2027 NHL trade deadline be?
Probably quiet. The 2026 deadline was the slowest since 2021, with 20 trades involving 33 players, compared with a four-year average of 22 trades and 37 players.
| Season | Deadline | Trades | Players |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 24 Feb 2020 | 32 | 55 |
| 2020-21 | 12 Apr 2021 | 17 | 26 |
| 2021-22 | 21 Mar 2022 | 32 | 51 |
| 2022-23 | 3 Mar 2023 | 21 | 34 |
| 2023-24 | 8 Mar 2024 | 23 | 33 |
| 2024-25 | 7 Mar 2025 | 24 | 47 |
| 2025-26 | 6 Mar 2026 | 20 | 33 |
The deadline is one of the dates in our list of every key date in the 2026-27 NHL season, and the full rule changes are in our guide to the new NHL CBA.
Updated 25 September 2026.
