The recently extended CBA between the NHL and NHLPA includes several provisions that will change how teams are run. One of the specific, bigger changes will see the role of emergency backup goaltender completely reshaped, beginning during the 2026-27 season.
Emergency backups, or EBUGs for short, will now be full-time members of the league, meaning the netminder will now travel with their team to each game. Every team must declare its designated EBUG 48 hours before the start of the season and 24 hours before each game.
The criteria to be an EBUG have also been defined as the potential netminder:
- Cannot have played an NHL game under a standard player contract
- Cannot have played more than 80 professional hockey games
- Cannot have played professional hockey in the prior three seasons
- Cannot have another contractual obligation that would preclude them from serving as an EBUG
- Cannot be on the reserved or restricted free agent list for an NHL team
In the past, EBUGs have practically come straight out of the crowd to sit on an NHL bench. Very rarely have any of them been forced into game action, as just six total EBUGs have seen NHL ice time.
The most well-known example is when David Ayres, a Zamboni driver for the Toronto Maple Leafs, stepped in for the Carolina Hurricanes during a 2020 game and made eight saves in a 6-3 Carolina win against his employer. He is the only EBUG ever credited with a win and the oldest NHL goaltender to win his regular-season debut, at age 42.
Scott Foster, an accountant by day, was also forced into a game for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2018 after three Chicago goaltenders, Corey Crawford, Anton Forsberg, and Colin Delia, all suffered injuries. Foster, a Canadian college goaltender in the early 2000s, stopped all seven shots he faced in 14:01 of ice time. He is one of just 18 players since 1982 to record a perfect 1.000 save percentage in the NHL.
The Washington Capitals have been forced to dress an EBUG a few times in recent years. Thomas Sullivan, a recent college graduate at the time, backed up Darcy Kuemper in December of 2023 after Charlie Lindgren was injured early in a road game against the New York Islanders. Gavin McHale, then goaltending coach for the University of Manitoba’s women’s hockey team, donned a Caps sweater in November of 2018 to back up Pheonix Copley against the Winnipeg Jets due to a late Braden Holtby injury scratch.
Brett Leonhardt, one of the Capitals’ video coaches, also famously played backup to Holtby in 2013 against the Montreal Canadiens. After Michal Neuvirth was hurt during warmups, Leonhardt was forced to finish pulling some video clips for the team dressed in his full game attire.
Leonhardt would qualify to serve as the team’s EBUG moving forward if they choose to go that route. The 42-year-old Ontario native never played a professional game after his four-year college career.
