The NHL is planning to send out a league-wide reminder about its helmet policy during pregame warmups after several teams recently hit the ice without head protection - a move that might’ve looked like harmless fun but runs afoul of league rules.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed Tuesday that a notice will be sent to all 32 clubs, reinforcing the current regulations around helmet use during warmups. While Daly didn’t specify when the reminder would go out, the message is clear: the league expects teams to follow the rules, and the recent stretch of helmetless warmups hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The most recent example came Monday night in Newark, where New Jersey Devils players swapped their helmets for custom ballcaps ahead of their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The hats, which read “1,000 Dilly,” were a tribute to defenseman Brenden Dillon, who was celebrating his 1,000th NHL game. It was a heartfelt gesture - and a creative one - but still a breach of the NHL’s warmup equipment rules.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. Just days earlier, both the Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks took a similar approach before their respective games against the Vegas Golden Knights.
In both cases, most skaters went without helmets during warmups. The only exceptions?
Goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Yaroslav Askarov, who stuck with their usual protective gear.
Sharks rookie Will Smith explained the decision as a collective one. “It was Saturday night in Vegas, so all the guys were pretty easy [to sell on it],” he said.
That sentiment was echoed by Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson, who said the idea came up during a team dinner the night before Ottawa’s Nov. 26 game. “It was just a little discussion over a team dinner,” Sanderson said on a TV broadcast.
“We’ll see if it happens in the future.”
If the NHL has its way, it won’t.
The league instituted the helmet requirement for warmups starting with the 2023-24 season, but the mandate only applies to players who entered the league in the 2019-20 season or later. Veterans who debuted before that cutoff are grandfathered in and can go without helmets during warmups - a nod to the league’s traditionalist roots, where players often skated bare-headed before puck drop. But for newer players, Rule 9.6 is non-negotiable: helmets are mandatory in warmups, no exceptions.
The only time the league looks the other way? The classic rookie lap - a long-standing NHL tradition where a player skating in his first game takes a solo lap around the ice during warmups, often without a helmet.
It’s a rite of passage, and one the league has allowed to continue. But beyond that, the NHL has made it clear that safety - even in the pregame - is a priority.
The recent wave of helmetless warmups may have been driven by camaraderie, celebration, or just a desire to shake things up. But the league’s stance remains firm. Expect the reminder to land in team inboxes soon, and don’t be surprised if the next time you see a team take the ice pregame, the lids are back on - at least for the players required to wear them.