Introduction
The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which is the legal agreement between club owners and the players union, was agreed to and ratified on July 22, 2005. It consists of the following general provisions:

• It is a six-year agreement, scheduled to run through September 15, 2011
• The agreement may be reopened by the Players' Association following Year Four (2008-09).
• The Players' Association also has the option to extend the agreement for one year at the end of the scheduled term.

Finances
The most contentious issue that the owners and players union wrestled with during the year-long negotiation related to finances. Here are the agreed-upon terms:

• REVENUE-COST LINK: During the first year, total player costs of the 30 NHL Clubs will not exceed 54% of League-wide revenue. This percentage will increase if league revenues reach one or more of the following levels:

• SALARY CAP: No Club payroll for the 2005-06 season will be less than $21.5 million and no payroll will exceed $39 million -- including all salaries, signing bonuses and performance bonuses.
   
• SALARY CAP - INDIVIDUAL LIMIT: No individual player salary can exceed 20% of a Club's Upper Limit on payroll. Thus, for 2005-06, no player can earn more than $7.8 million in any given year of his contract. Entry level salaries are limited to $850,000 for 2005 and 2006 draftees and increases per a given schedule up to $925,000 in 2011. Signing bonuses will be restricted to 10% of a given year's salary.
   
• SALARY CAP - MINIMUM SALARY: The minimum salary for a player is shown in the table below:

• SALARY CAP - REPLACEMENT SALARY EXCEPTION: In the case of bona fide long-term injury (injuries that sideline a player for a minimum of 24 days and 10 games) to one or more of a club's players, Clubs can replace up to the full value of the injured player's NHL salary (even if such salary would result in the club's team salary exceeding the upper limit). The "replacement salary" will not count against the club's upper limit but will count against the League-wide players' share. Upon return of the injured player, the team must come into immediate compliance with the requirements of the payroll range.
   
• SALARY ROLLBACK: Each individual player contract currently in existence will include a 24% reduction of NHL salary for every year of its term, and no individual player salary can exceed 20% of a Club's Upper Limit on payroll.
   
• REVENUE SHARING: All Clubs that (1) are ranked in the bottom half (bottom 15) in League revenues, and (2) operate in markets with a Demographic Market Area of 2.5 million or fewer TV households are eligible to receive revenue sharing subsidies from the league. The money will be given from the top 10 teams.
   
• PERFORMANCE BONUSES: Performance bonuses will only be permissible for the following types of players: (1) players on entry-level contracts; (2) players signing one-year contracts after returning from long-term injuries (players with 400 or more games who spent 100 or more days on injured reserve in the last year of their most recent contract); and senior veteran players who sign a one-year contract after the age of 35.

Entry Draft & Free Agency
Some important changes have been made in this area too.

• ENTRY DRAFT: The entry draft will be limited to seven rounds, down from nine. Players who sign their first contract at age 18-21 are required to sign three-year Entry Level contracts; players age 22-23 will be required to sign two-year deals; and players age 24 will be required to sign a one-year Entry Level contract.
   
• UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENCY: The age of unrestricted free agency remains 31 (with four accrued seasons of 40 or more games on an NHL Club's roster) for 2005-06. It will drop to 29 (with four accrued seasons) or eight accrued seasons -- regardless of age -- in 2006-07. The following season, the age drops to 28 (with four accrued seasons) or seven accrued seasons, and falls to 27 (with four accrued seasons) or seven accrued seasons in 2008-09.
   
• ACCRUED SEASON - An accrued season is a League year during which time a player was on an NHL club roster for 40 or more regular season games (30 for a goaltender). Games missed due to a hockey-related injury while the players was on the roster shall count towards this total.
   
• RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY: Unchanged from the previous CBA.
   
• WAIVER DRAFT: Eliminated.
   
• SIGNING/TRADING DEADLINE: Restricted free agents who do not sign contracts by December 1st in a given year are unable to play for the remainder of that season. Players may be traded up to the fortieth day prior to the end of the regular season (up from 26 days prior to).
   
• COMPENSATORY DRAFT PICKS: Clubs will no longer receive compensatory draft choices for the loss of unrestricted free agents but will receive such choices for the loss of unsigned first-round draft picks only.
   
• QUALIFYING OFFERS: Players earning $660,000 or less will be entitled to qualifying offers (QO) at 110% of their prior year's salary; players earning more than $660,000 and up to $1 million will be entitled to QOs at 105% of prior year's salary; players earning more than $1 million will be entitled to QO at 100% of their prior year's salary.
   
• OTHER: Player contracts cannot be renegotiated in either direction. Both the player and his club now have arbitration rights.