It's trade deadline day and....

Oh, yeah. There was that whole game last night. The Leafs lost 6-2 to the New York Rangers and do you really want to read a review of this game? It wouldn't even be a review, more like an autopsy. The players seem to be mentally exhausted with all of this but at least today will bring some clarity on the path forward.

Speaking of the deadline, here's something you need to know from Cathy.

One of the new features of the 2026 CBA that is in effect now involves changes to the rules about loaning players to the AHL. This has widely been reported as "no paper loans allowed".

Paper loans are the technique of sending a player to the AHL without that player actually going anywhere and then recalling them either right away or in the next few days. Teams have routinely done this to save cap space or open roster space on road trips.

The new rule stops this happening in some circumstances. This is the new wording:

Add new CBA Section 13.12(p) that provides as follows:
(p) A Player who has been Loaned to a minor league club, and was not credited with a day pursuant to (h) above for one (1) or more days since the Loan, must actually report to the club and play in one (1) or more games with such minor league club before he is eligible for Recall.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Goaltender on Loan who has played less than the required one (1) game may be Recalled if his NHL Club would otherwise have less than two Goaltenders available to dress in the Club's next game.
Revise CBA Section 13.12(k) to provide as follows:
(k) A Player who has been Loaned to a club of any league affiliated with the NHL may be Recalled at any time subject to the provisions of Articles 13.12(1), 13.12(m), 13.12(n), and 13.12(p).

And to help this make some sense, this is the (h) in the old CBA that is being referenced above:

(h) Solely for purposes of this Article 13, days on the Active Roster shall include days that the Player is on a Club's Active Roster at 5:00 p.m. New York time. Days on the Active Roster shall not include the day the Player is removed from the Active Roster (e.g., Loaned to a minor league club or placed on Injured Reserve) if such removal from the Active Roster occurred prior to 5:00 p.m. New York time, unless such Player has practiced or travelled with an NHL Club, or played in an NHL Game, prior to such removal from the Active Roster.

What is important to understand here is the idea of credit for a day on the roster. This refers to the NHL roster. Every day from opening day to the final regular season day is an NHL day (minus the Christmas break, the ASG or other break like for the Olympics). The NHL day runs from 5 pm to 5 pm each normal day for the rest of us. The trade deadline is at 3pm.

If a player is loaned to the AHL and recalled within one NHL day, that player is credited with a day on the NHL roster and this move is fine. This means players can be "papered down" today before 3pm and recalled after (as long as it is before 5 pm) to preserve AHL playoff eligibility.

Trades and Deadline News

Of course, there will no doubt be a ton of trades today, but many big names have already moved, and there were three late last night you may have missed if you checked out after the Leafs game.

Our old friend Luke Schenn is back in the division. Hide your cakes.

The Sabres also acquired someone from the "I remember that name from somewhere" Leafs files.

Columbus and Vancouver did some business too.

If you want to tank for picks, the Canucks have conducted a master class.

This also happened last night.

So strap in and get ready for a long day of waiting for something to happen. I will be at the Marlies game in Winnipeg tonight against the Moose, so I have to get on our private PPP Express train now to make it there in time. I hope the kittens remembered to stock up the bar cart.

Enjoy deadline day, everyone!

From The Branches