Cardiff Devils Announce Refreshed Roster Ahead of 2025-26 EIHL Season

The Cardiff Devils have restructured their team and appointed a new head coach for the 2025–26 Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) season.

In addition to the 14 players retained from the previous season’s squad, Paul Thompson, the Welsh club’s new manager, has brought in nine new players.

Cardiff lost to Nottingham Panthers in the Play-Off final after finishing fourth in the EIHL the previous season. In January, the team won the IIHF Continental Cup, which was their first European trophy.

They play their first EIHL match at home against Thompson’s old team, Coventry Blaze, on Saturday, October 11, before starting the new season in Nottingham on Saturday, September 13, the first of eight Challenge Cup games.

What is the number of players on an EIHL roster?

With the exception of “two-way players” and injured reserve replacements, a team may use a maximum of 25 players in a season.

As many “two-way players” as clubs want to sign up, they must be domestic, under 25, and predominantly contracted to an English Ice Hockey (EIH) or Scottish Ice Hockey (SIH) side playing in a level below the EIHL.

Up to 20 players, including 18 skaters and 2 goalies, are allowed on a gameday squad, with no more than 15 of them being non-homegrown.

The minimum requirement is that every team have a British goaltender on their roster.