Salary retention is an agreement where the club trading a player keeps part of his cap hit on its own books. A club can retain up to 50% of the contract, the retained share keeps counting against the retaining club’s cap for the rest of the deal, and the club receiving the player pays only what is left.
Why retention exists
The salary cap is fixed, so a club cannot take on a contract it cannot fit. Retention is the mechanism that makes a trade possible anyway: the club selling the player keeps enough of the cap hit that the buyer fits him under its own ceiling.
It is almost always used on a large contract with term left — a veteran signed long-term on a rebuilding team is the classic case.
The 50% limit, with an example
A club may retain no more than half of a contract's cap hit. The retained percentage is fixed for the rest of the contract; it cannot be renegotiated later.
Take a player with a cap hit of $8,000,000 and three seasons left:
| Retention | Stays on the trading club's cap | Carried by the new club |
|---|---|---|
| None | $0 | $8,000,000 |
| 25% | $2,000,000 | $6,000,000 |
| 50% (the maximum) | $4,000,000 | $4,000,000 |
The retained money is dead cap space: the club gets no player for it, and it cannot be used to fill another roster spot.
Who actually pays the salary?
Retention moves cap hit, and in practice the salary too: the retaining club reimburses the club that now employs the player for its share. That is why retention is a real cost to a rebuilding club and not just an accounting entry.
Signing bonuses already paid stay with the club that paid them, which is one reason contracts with large bonuses are harder to move than their cap hit suggests.
Can a contract be retained twice?
Yes. A contract can pass through more than one retaining club, and each one can hold a share, as long as the total retained across all of them never exceeds half of the original cap hit. The player's own paycheque is unchanged — the money is simply split between the clubs that have held the contract.
The league has to approve the paperwork, and the retention percentages are registered with the NHL, so the total can be checked against the original number rather than against whatever the previous club was paying.
Trying it in a trade proposal
The HockeyDesk trade builder lets you attach a retention percentage to any player in a two-team proposal and see the deal as a card, which is the fastest way to understand why a trade that looks impossible on cap space alone can work with 25% retained.
Rules in this area are set by the collective bargaining agreement and can change between seasons. For a decision that matters, check the current CBA and the league's trade rules.