Topic Hub · Rules
NHL Rules and Regulations
The NHL plays by its own rulebook, with video review, coach's challenges, three-on-three overtime and a salary cap that shapes every roster. These guides explain how the league's rules and regulations work.
How the NHL’s Rules Differ From the Rest of Hockey
Professional hockey shares its basic rules with every other level of the game, but the NHL layers on its own procedures: video review from a central Situation Room, coach’s challenges, specific overtime formats, a points-based standings system, and roster rules such as waivers and the salary cap.
These guides explain how those rules work in plain language. The NHL updates its rulebook and collective bargaining terms periodically, so we describe the general framework and encourage readers to check the league’s current official rules on NHL.com for the latest wording.
What You’ll Learn in This Hub
- How the NHL’s official rulebook is organized
- What coaches can challenge and what happens if they lose
- Video review and the NHL Situation Room
- Goaltender interference and its gray areas
- Regular-season versus playoff overtime
- How points, tiebreakers and wild cards decide the standings
- The Stanley Cup Playoff format
- The salary cap, explained for fans
- Waivers and the trade deadline
- Stick, goalie equipment and protective gear rules
Related reading: learn the fundamentals in Ice Hockey Rules for Beginners, then see how front offices use these rules in NHL Teams and Strategies.
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