With the dust having settled from the absorption of the USHA by the NAHC, the so-called "big league" of hockey had a routine offseason. 

The death of Al Juneau inspired the Valiants to donate a trophy to the league in Juneau's honor. The Juneau Trophy would henceforth be awarded to the top goaltender in the NAHC, starting with the upcoming 1927-28 season.

In light of the depressed state of the offensive games (and fans grumbling about it), a new rule was to be implemented for the upcoming season - forward passes in the neutral and defensive zones, which had been illegal, would now be permitted. The hope was that this would result in faster play (it would) and more goals (results were mixed as teams began using the rule to ice the puck, which was not illegal at the time). The league also allowed "on-the-fly" line changes. Changing personnel was still fairly new to the game after its "ironman" beginnings and previously changes were made only on game stoppages. Now the rule modern fans see for changes during play was put into place, again making for a faster game with better flow.

Max Dewar, the former firebrand defenseman-turned-coach had invented a new goal and the NAHC decided to adopt it. The goal as described by Dewar (who was coaching in Boston) was "shaped like a B" - the double curves in the back and flax netting was better able to catch (and keep) the puck than the old cage. Variations of Dewar's design would remain the standard for the goal through the current day.

In Chicago, Adolphus Hoch dismissed coach Pappy Day despite a solid 21-21-2 performance by the Packers in their first-year in the NAHC. Calling Hoch the "Windy City Windbag," Day would never coach in the NAHC again and he left Chicago wishing a "hex" upon the Packers franchise. The results of the change drew mixed reviews from players and fans - new coach George Mitchell's debut season... well, we'll talk about that later. One thing that does bear mentioning is that Jack Barrell, the star winger whom Hoch had purchased from Toronto prior to the 1926-27 campaign, suffered a broken leg in training and would play sparingly (and not very well) in 1927-28.

In a swap of right wings Ottawa sent 24-year-old up-and-comer Gant Wanless to the Shamrocks in return for cash (the Athletics were in the league's smallest market) and veteran Jim Beyer. The A's also sold defenseman Hugh Boughner to Toronto as they sought to both reduce payroll and bring in cash. Wanless would go on to long and productive career while Beyer was on the way out but the Boughner move was a smart one as he too, was on the way out.