(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mikhail Sergachev signs autographs as the Utah Mammoth host the Calgary Flames, NHL hockey in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025.
Ottawa • It was early September when the NHL expedited changes to the league’s collective bargaining agreement, including the relaxation of the dress code for players. League mandates on wearing suits and ties? They’re out. Individual style choices — from T-shirts and jeans, to Canadian tuxedos, motorcycle jackets and tank tops — are in.
Players such as Utah Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev were excited about showing off some new threads instead of wearing a suit everywhere they went.
“They’re uncomfortable,” Sergachev told The Athletic. “When you wake up on the road, you put your suit on. For morning skates, you have to take it off there, put it on again, go back to the hotel, eat, go, take it off again, and then put it on before the game. And then you come to the rink, and you take it off, put it on. It’s like 12 times you do that during the day. It just gets old.”
But as attire started to shift around the league, there were signs that teams such as the Ottawa Senators would trend conservatively.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk — still tanned after returning from summer break — addressed the media to discuss the season ahead and eventually offered his two cents on changing NHL fashion.
“I still think we’re one of the top four leagues in the world,” Tkachuk said in September. “I think we make a lot of money. I think we should be able to represent ourselves well. So, hopefully the dress code isn’t abused. I think it’s just important to be professional and represent yourself well as well.”
His teammates eventually followed suit.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nick Schmaltz signs autographs as the Utah Mammoth host the Calgary Flames, NHL hockey in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025.
The Senators’ older players, after some discussion among the team’s leadership group, self-imposed a business casual dress code ahead of the 2025-26 season. Before practices or plane rides before a big road trip, the team will wear track suits and training gear. Before games, players such as Linus Ullmark can still rock their expensive suits or something that fits under the category of business casual.
The Senators’ desire to wear suits is somehow both counterculture and routine, particularly in a time when their sporting brethren in the NFL and NBA have worn extravagant and original outfits before games for years.
“It’s a job,” Ullmark said earlier this season before stepping away from the team on personal leave. “It’s a business. And it’s nice for certain teams and certain players that there’s not a dress code … Our job right now is to play hockey, and with that comes expectations about looking the part.”
“If I put on a pair of slacks, oversized jeans or a hoodie and I go to the game, that’s just a normal day. That’s a practice. I’m having a day off. Soon as that suit comes on, game time.”
Despite the NHL leaving it up to the players and teams to choose what to wear, some players don’t want to stray from routine. Many NHL players have worn suits, or have seen players wear them before games, for as long as they can remember.
“Growing up, you watch ‘Hockey Night in Canada,’ they always show the guys coming in a suit,” Senators forward Drake Batherson said. “When you think of the NHL, I think of guys coming dressed sharp.”
Older players, such as Senators forward David Perron, point to other sports, such as soccer, whose players dress the same for games.
“You want to look like a team,” Perron said in September. “Where it’s a tracksuit for travel or maybe morning skate. It’s nice when you look like the soccer teams walking into the stadium, whether they have suits or they have their (track suits). I think it just looks awesome. And I think that’s the way to go.”
And some players, such as Nick Jensen, would much rather not let those suits sit at home unworn.
“We all bought suits,” Jensen said. “We’re not going to let them hang in the closet and retire them.”
The Senators aren’t the only NHL team to conform to business casual attire. The Pittsburgh Penguins are also among the teams that still like to wear suits and adopt a business casual look.
“I think it’s a respect thing for the game,” Penguins forward Kevin Hayes said. “We have elite players on our team that have been in the league for a long time and they’re wearing suits. I think it’s just more of a situation where you follow your leaders. I just think it looks proper when your home team is rocking the same thing and looking nice.”
The New York Rangers have attempted to emulate the Senators’ internal business-casual-like dress code. But they’ve noticed some standards changing, too.
“It’s getting looser every day,” said Rangers captain J.T. Miller, who will typically wear a $700 Hugo Boss peacoat with Lululemon pants and tennis shoes before games. “Guys are wearing sweatshirts. Some are wearing T-shirts under a jacket. So, honestly, I don’t know what the code is anymore. But I don’t really care. I think as long as we all look sharp, I don’t really care what we (wear).”
And even on teams where players are given free rein, some still choose to dress up.
“I’ve gone casual a couple of times in games,” Chicago Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson said. “Obviously there’s some nights that we do like a special T-shirt or something like that, I’ll leave (it) separate because I know that’s a bit different. But when I go casual on my own, I feel like a fan. I feel like a member of the general public. I don’t want that to be my mentality coming into the game.
“I’ve got some nice suits that I’m like, pissed if I don’t wear them. I’ve spent a pretty penny on a lot of them and I want to get use out of them.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kevin Stenlund with fans as the Utah Mammoth host the Calgary Flames, NHL hockey in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025.
Meanwhile, other teams have embraced being more liberal with their style. The Toronto Maple Leafs have typically straddled the limits of the NHL’s dress code. The recent rule change has only empowered players such as Auston Matthews and William Nylander to be bolder with their fashion choices.
Sergachev even hired a stylist during the offseason and used athletes such as Lewis Hamilton, Roger Federer and Michael Jordan as style inspirations. He bought a handful of Kangol hats, made famous by Jordan. It paid off as he and teammate Dmitri Simashev were both featured in GQ for their pregame outfits earlier this year.
Sergachev isn’t averse to wearing a suit, nor does he have a problem with those who choose to continue wearing them. It’s more about having the freedom to wear whatever he feels, and sometimes it means juxtaposing formal and comfort wear.
“(I) can put (on) a suit jacket with a sports coat, together, and tie with the shirt underneath it,” Sergachev said. “And (wear) sports shoes like Salomons or Nikes, and baggy pants, and still look kind of cool.”
Other teams, including the Montreal Canadiens, rooted in tradition as an Original Six franchise, are also leaving it up to the players to dress as they see fit. And while players like Cole Caufield might have to “spend more money” to keep up with the fashion trends, it doesn’t mean it’ll happen year-round.
“Just have enough suits, so (I can) just wear that with a T-shirt, which has been nice, and sneakers. But I don’t think with the winter coming up, there will be any flashy outfits going forward,” Caufield said.
“The biggest difference is now I’ve got to think (about) what I’ve got to wear a little bit more,” said Canadiens defenceman Alexandre Carrier, who will alternate between quarter-zip sweaters and polo shirts on game day. “Usually, I just put on a suit and you’re ready to go (and you) put the tie on. Now, it’s a bit (like) ‘I wore that last night,’ but there’s just so many games, right?”
But for teammates such as Alexandre Texier, being at least semi-formal before games is all they’ve ever known.
“I’ve always been educated like that,” Texier said. “(You’re) going to a game, you’re not going to a restaurant. But some guys like it because they can show their style (and) personality. But for me, I just wear suits, and I don’t mind, to be honest. Maybe, no tie.”
The fact that the NHL has even entered the style conversation is noteworthy as more players become savvy about marketing the league and sport. And players being highlighted in style rankings and social media posts for their sense of style has become the norm — even if the NHL is still playing catch-up on the outfits displayed by other leagues in the North American Big Four of sports leagues.
“A lot of those guys are sponsored by brands,” Batherson said. “If I was sponsored by a brand, I’d wear it, too, into the game. But obviously, those leagues, you can show off (what) you wear a little more.”
Even if players are allowed to show more flair beyond formal and business casual styles, some will stick with what’s worked for them.
“I still think that there’s no place needed for slacks or joggers,” Ullmark said. “It’s not professional. I don’t care if it says Balenciaga and they cost you $1,500. Still, pair of slacks.”
But players still take some liberties around those style rules.
“It’s nice that we don’t have to wear ties anymore,” Senators center Shane Pinto said. “Just throw on a white shirt and go from there.”
— Scott Powers contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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