NHL Finally Rules Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup Final Roster Illegal
Photo credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
The Florida Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup, though the NHL has determined that in the future, they may not be able to dominate as they once could.
Although they may have the beginnings of a dynasty, and just coming off their second straight Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers might not be able to keep the same advantages as they've held for the past few seasons.
Florida had $13-million extra to beat Edmonton
Reason being, the fact they are able to use the LTIR to skirt the rules and due to the salary cap rules being essentially non-existent in the playoffs, and the NHL is trying to crack down on those incidents.
According to a new article from TVA Sports, the Florida Panthers held a distinct advantage in terms of their roster, being able to stack the deck against Edmonton; about a $13-million advantage:
In fact, Florida's team reportedly iced a $93M lineup-$5M over the $88M salary cap set by the National Hockey League (NHL), according to calculations from the site PuckPedia.
In contrast, the Edmonton Oilers had a total salary of $80.6M for the final game, a difference of nearly $13M.
In contrast, the Edmonton Oilers had a total salary of $80.6M for the final game, a difference of nearly $13M.
This comes on the heels of PuckPedia releasing their updated salary cap hit for the 2025 Finals that showed Florida had such a huge advantage it might seem unfair.
Florida's LTIR exploits no longer available to them come 2026-27
But with the new CBA being put into action starting in 2026-27, the NHL has implemented a playoff salary cap, trying to create more parity in the postseason.
The new rules state that teams are going to have to put in a playoff roster, and must be less than or equal to the maximum the cap is for that current season, and need to submit their rosters ahead of a deadline as opposed to last-minute changes.
This means that teams like Florida will have to make sure that they have enough reinforcements ahead of the playoffs, and if they are dealing with some injury issues have to either tell the players to buck up and play, or sit out, and find a replacement that fits within that new cap.
It's a way for the league to create more parity after other teams previously exploited this tactic; though granted everyone in the league has at one point in the season.
If you have players on LTIR to save yourself in the regular season, knowing they can play in the playoffs where a cap doesn't matter; that sets a very unfair precedent which is why Gary Bettman said 'No more'.
It's not the only big change in the CBA, however it's one that the league desperately needed in order to create parity.
Florida is absolutely dominant now, but we'll see how long it lasts starting in October 2026.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 22 | 3730 ANSWERS NHL Finally Rules Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup Final Roster Illegal Do you think Florida held an advantage over the Oilers thanks to the salary cap rules? | ||
| Yes | 3043 | 81.6 % |
| No | 687 | 18.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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