The sixteen teams are set — so are the 44 officials — for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Here are the 22 NHL referees and 22 NHL linespersons chosen to work the National Hockey League postseason this year:
Referees
Brandon Blandina, Jake Brenk, Francis Charron, Gord Dwyer, Eric Furlatt, Trevor Hanson, Jean Hebert, Frederick L’Ecuyer, Pierre Lambert, T.J. Luxmore, Peter MacDougall, Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac, Kendrick Nicholson, Garrett Rank, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Graham Skilliter, Francois St. Laurent, Furman South, Corey Syvret, and Kelly Sutherland.
Out from 2025: Dan O’Rourke (injured), Brian Pochmara
First-Timers: Brandon Blandina, Corey Syvret
Linespersons
Shandor Alphonso, Tyson Baker, Devin Berg, David Brisebois, Scott Cherrey, Ryan Daisy, Kyle Flemington, Julien Fournier, Travis Gawryletz, Ryan Gibbons, Trent Knorr, Matt MacPherson, Jesse Marquis, Bevan Mills, Kilian McNamara, Kiel Murchison, CJ Murray, Jonny Murray, Andrew Smith, Libor Suchanek, James Tobias, and Travis Toomey
Out from 2025: Steve Barton (retired)
First-Timers: Kilian McNamara, Travis Toomey
Playoff Debuts
Referees Brandon Blandina and Corey Syvret as both making their postseason debuts, as are linespersons Kilian McNamara and Travis Toomey.
Who’s Missing
Referee Steve Kozari and linespersons Michel Cormier and Ryan Jackson are out with injuries and not expected to work the postseason.
Ref Chris Lee and lineys Steve Barton and Brad Kovachik are ineligible for the playoffs, having retired during the season.
Officials splitting time between the AHL and NHL — referees Riley Brace, Beau Halkidis, Graedy Hamilton, Stephen Hiff, Alex Lepkowski, Liam Maaskant, Morgan MacPhee, and Michael Sullivan, along with linespersons Dylan Blujus, Jeremy Facuher, Brandon Grillo, and Shawn Oliver — are also off the playoff roster.
Newly-debuted Ben Betker, having just made his NHL debut, will also have to wait to work his first playoff game.
Other referees not taking part in this year’s playoffs include Cody Beach, Tom Chmielewski, Mitch Dunning, Justin Kea, Pierre Lambert, Michael Markovic, Dan O’Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Carter Sandlak, and Brandon Schrader
Linespersons out of the postseason include Caleb Apperson, Michel Cormier, Jonathan Deschamps, Brandon Gawryletz, Tommy Hughes, Dan Kelly, Joe Mahon, Ben O’Quinn, Bryan Pancich, and Mark Shewchyk
Career Numbers
Kelly Sutherland leads all active referees in playoff games worked (252), ahead of Wes McCauley (220), Dan O’Rourke (215), Eric Furlatt (191), and Chris Rooney (183). Sutherland also leads all active refs in Stanley Cup Final appearances (10) and Cup Final games worked (27).
Sutherland is fourth all-time in playoff games officiated, behind Bill McCreary (297), Don Koharski (266), and Kerry Fraser (254).
On the lines, the active leader for playoff games is Jonny Murray (203). He’s followed by Scott Cherrey (171), Steve Barton (157), and Matt MacPherson (124).
Playoff Salaries
Officials get paid per round in the postseason, with referees earning $31,000 and linespersons $19,500. Standby referees earn $1000 for being on call, with an increase to $2,750 if they get into the game; linespersons on standby pick up a $650 check which bumps to $1,775 if they take the ice.
As in previous seasons, the league will cut down on the pool of officials after each round of the playoffs.
