The ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players' Association's ECHL membership ratified a five-year collective bargaining agreement that increased the salary cap and addressed key issues.
There won't be a lengthy strike after the holidays in the ECHL after all.
The Professional Hockey Players' Association announced its ECHL membership ratified a new five-year collective bargaining agreement with the league. The new agreement runs through the 2029-30 season.
The PHPA and ECHL reached a tentative deal on the new CBA on Dec. 27, which meant players would report to their teams and prepare to return to play, with games resuming Tuesday. Games from Dec. 26 to 29 were postponed due to the work stoppage.
"This agreement reflects the unity, resolve, professionalism and discipline of our members throughout this process," PHPA executive director Brian Ramsay said in the announcement. "Meaningful progress was made in several key areas identified as priorities by our members, and this outcome would not have been possible without their engagement and support."
The previous CBA expired June 30, 2025, but the league and players' association continued to operate under the terms of the previous agreement while working on a new deal.
On Dec. 24, the PHPA's ECHL membership served a strike notice and began job action on Dec. 26.
The association wanted the new CBA to address key issues, such as adding reasonable limitations on travel between back-to-back games, a league-wide holiday break from Dec. 24 to 26, guaranteed contracts for a season, uninterrupted medical coverage during the off-season, an increased weekly salary cap that would equate to an average weekly wage of $975 for players and a standard group licensing framework.
The league and PHPA didn't announce specific details of the new CBA, but both parties discussed in general what the agreement achieved.
"This new agreement ratified by both the ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association significantly increases player compensation, improves health and safety and delivers on new initiatives that are responsive to our players' needs, while supporting our league's continued growth and ability to put an entertaining and accessible product on the ice for our fans and the communities we serve," ECHL commissioner Ryan Crelin said in a statement.
On Dec. 26, the ECHL said it gave the PHWA its final offer the day before, which included an immediate 19.8 percent increase to the salary cap for this season, to be paid retroactively from the start of the 2025-26 campaign, additional salary cap increases in future years, mandatory days off, modifying holiday and mid-season breaks, and addressing travel between back-to-back games.
The PHPA is the official bargaining unit for all professional players in the ECHL and the AHL. The AHL's previous CBA expired at the end of August. The AHL and PHPA are reportedly very close to a new agreement.
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