Story Summary
Every NHL team is required to carry an emergency backup goalie this season under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, but the role is expected to extend beyond its traditional last-resort purpose.
For some clubs, the extra netminder will remain an insurance option for situations in which injury or illness leaves insufficient time to recall a minor-league goalie. Others intend to use the EBUG in regular practices, allowing their NHL goalies to reduce unnecessary repetitions, leave the ice earlier or avoid drills that do little to sharpen their game.
Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger sees a potential health benefit in that change. He said the presence of a third goalie could give regular netminders greater freedom to take the rest they need rather than staying on the ice because teammates require someone in the net.
The revised EBUG framework also sets clear eligibility and equipment requirements. An EBUG cannot have appeared in an NHL game under a standard player contract, played more than 80 professional games, or played professional hockey during the previous three seasons. They will wear No. 00 and must meet the same equipment-sizing standards applied to NHL goalies.
Utah Mammoth EBUG Colten McIntyre offered a practical example last season. The 22-year-old travelled with Utah, dressed at Colorado after Karel Vejmelka sustained an upper-body injury, and also took practice and morning-skate work that created rest opportunities for the club’s regular goalies.
Key Facts
- Every NHL team must have an emergency backup goalie on its roster this season under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
- An eligible EBUG must not have played in an NHL game under a standard player contract, played more than 80 professional games or played professional hockey in the previous three seasons.
- EBUGs will wear No. 00 and must comply with NHL equipment-sizing requirements, including measurements for pants, chest protectors and pads.
- Jake Oettinger said a third goalie could allow regular NHL netminders to take needed time away from practice work rather than feeling obliged to remain on the ice.
- Philipp Grubauer said rotating a third goalie through drills can help regular netminders perform shorter sequences at game-level intensity instead of allowing fatigue and poor habits to develop.
- Colten McIntyre travelled with the Utah Mammoth last season and dressed against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 23 because of an upper-body injury to Karel Vejmelka.
- McIntyre also faced Utah’s top power-play unit during road morning skates, enabling the unit to work on fresh ice while Vejmelka and Vitek Vanecek warmed up at the other end.
- Vejmelka led the NHL with 64 appearances and 63 starts last season, four more appearances than Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros.
- Utah coach Andre Tourigny said McIntyre gave the Mammoth an additional practice option while helping the club balance momentum and workload for Vejmelka and new backup Sebastian Cossa.
IHM Discussion
The important shift is not simply that every club now has an EBUG available. It is that the position can become part of everyday workload planning.
Goalies are exposed to a high volume of repeated movements in practice, particularly butterfly drops, recoveries and post-practice shooting drills. The force involved in a butterfly drop has been measured at twice a goalie’s body weight; for Oettinger, that was described as 450 pounds on each drop. The issue is not that practice is unimportant, but that not every repetition carries equal value for a goalie who has played recently or needs to manage his workload.
Grubauer’s point is especially relevant to high-tempo drills. A sequence overloaded with odd-man rushes can turn into a survival exercise rather than a game-relevant read-and-react session. Having a third netminder available permits the regular goalies to work at full intensity for a shorter spell, recover, and then rejoin the session. That is a more deliberate use of practice time than simply asking the goalie who is not starting to absorb every extra shot.
The rule may also make the role more useful to skaters and coaches. Utah’s use of McIntyre on the road showed how an extra goalie can support a power-play session before the group has cut up the ice. That preserved the preferred fresh-ice work for the Mammoth’s power-play unit while allowing the club’s NHL goalies to complete their own warm-up at the opposite end.
Why It Matters
Goaltending workload has long involved more than games and starts. Morning skates, drills, extra shooting and the practical need to provide a target for teammates all add demands that may not be directly useful to the regular goalie.
The mandatory EBUG requirement gives clubs a formal extra resource to address that issue. Teams can still reserve the player strictly for emergency cover, but they now have the option to build a more flexible practice routine around him. For heavily used starters such as Vejmelka, who made 64 appearances last season, that flexibility can be meaningful across a full schedule.
It also changes the value of the EBUG from a largely unseen contingency plan into a possible daily hockey operations role. The goalie must be prepared for an emergency appearance, but may also help create cleaner practice conditions for the NHL tandem and more specialised work for the rest of the team.
Mini Q&A
What is changing for NHL emergency backup goalies?
Every NHL club is now required to carry an EBUG, with eligibility, jersey-number and equipment-sizing rules set out in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
How can an EBUG help a regular NHL goalie?
Teams can use the extra goalie in practice, allowing regular netminders to limit surplus repetitions, rotate through demanding drills and take more tailored work with the goalie coach.
How did Utah use Colten McIntyre?
McIntyre travelled with the Mammoth, provided emergency cover when Vejmelka was injured, and took net duty during road morning skates so Utah’s power-play unit could practise on fresh ice.
Coach Mark Comment
A third goalie can improve the quality of practice rather than merely reduce its quantity. The coaching value lies in choosing when a regular netminder needs sharp, competitive repetitions and when he does not need to stay in the drill simply to keep two nets occupied. Utah’s power-play setup is a strong example: the extra goalie allowed a specialist unit to work as intended while the regular goalies followed their own preparation.
IHM Final View
The new EBUG rules formalise a position every club must now carry, but the competitive benefit will depend on how each team uses it. For some, the goalie will remain emergency cover. For others, the role can become a practical part of managing practice volume, maintaining intensity and giving regular NHL netminders more control over their daily workload.