While on-card autographs remain the norm, 2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey sees a considerable refresh of the NHL card brand.
Per UD, "Upper Deck Ice has been stripped down to the studs and rebuilt as a premium, Hobby-exclusive one-pack-per-box product."
Each box includes one autograph, one relic and one Ice Premieres rookie, on average. The key difference is the box output, which drops from 72 cards per box (in 2024-25) to eight cards per box (in 2025-26).
2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey Checklist Rundown
Although there are far fewer cards per box, the 2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey checklist hopes to make up for it with more quality.
All cards are printed on 60-point card stock (or thicker) with a premium finish.
Base & Ice Premieres Details
Up first for 2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey, every card in the base set and Ice Premieres subset showcases 70-point stock with acetate fronts and backs.
Highlighting at least two players from each NHL team, the 100-card base set works in a few parallels.
2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey Ice Premieres Rundown
- Red - /249
- Green - /99
- Gold - /25
- Champagne Gold - 1/1
Another 100 cards are dedicated to Ice Premieres, split into four rookie tiers numbered to 999 copies or less. Every box has one Ice Premieres rookie card.
2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey Ice Premieres Rundown
- Level 4 - /999 (#101-139)
- Level 3 - /499 (#140-169)
- Level 2 - /249 (#170-190)
- Level 1 - /99 (#191-200)
Each level also adds Gold (/25) and Champagne Gold (1/1) parallels.
Insert Details
Among the 2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey inserts, the debuting Black Ice (1:6 packs) and Black Ice Rookies (1:3 pack) sets display acetate designs on the front and back. Look for the rare Gold Spectrum (/25) edition.
There are a few other new insert lines in '25-26 Ice, including Breaking the Ice (1:4 packs), which uses a broken glass design to draw attention to NHL stars.
Top names appear frozen in the all-new Cryogenic (1:5 packs) series.
Showmen (1:4 packs) captures the look of a circus for top stars and rookies.
There's also Tickle the Twine (1:4 packs), highlighting top scorers. On average, every box has one card from Breaking the Ice, Cryogenic, Showmen or Tickle the Twine.
Returning UD Ice lines include Sub Zero Rookies (/499), Sub Zero Rookies Photo Variant (/49) and Sub Zero Stars (/399). Upper Deck noted that due to a new decorative coating process on the front, these 60-point cards are 3x thicker than in past years.
As for the plexi cards, Dry Ice (1:16 packs) is a new "frosted" series, and Exquisite Crystal is back for another run.
Autograph & Relic Details
Led by the hard-signed content, the 2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey checklist is still packed with hits.
Tapping into the main lineup are the Base Red Auto (1:4 packs), Base Gold Auto (/10), Base Jersey (1:2 packs) and Base Patch (/35) cards.
From there, the rookie chase is on with Ice Premieres Autos (/299 or /199) cards and rare Gold (/25) parallels. Fans can also track down memorabilia versions in Ice Premieres Jersey (1:3 packs), which adds Patch (/25) versions.
However, the key options for some rookie collectors might be in the Ice Premieres Auto Jersey (/35) and Ice Premieres Auto Patch (/10) sets.
Check out the new Fire & Ice (#'d), with red-ink paint pen Fire cards and blue-ink paint pen Ice cards.
Mimicking a wax seal, the Hand Stamped (1:10 packs) cards feature only hard-signed rookie autographs.
Of course, 2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey keeps some brand staples going via Glacial Graphs (1:6 packs).
Following a one-year break, Signature Swatches (#'d) is back with game-worn relics.
The Sub Zero Rookie set also continues with Blue Auto (1:6 packs), Gold Auto (/10) and Photo Variant Gold Auto (/10) cards.
Not seen since the 2005-26 release, Cool Threads (/249) has numbered Patch, Auto Jersey and Auto Patch parallels.
Estimated Release Date: July 2026 TBA
2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey Product Configuration
Hobby Boxes
- 8 cards per pack; 1 pack per box; 16 boxes per case (2 inners)
2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey Box Break
Hobby Boxes (on average)
- 1 Autograph
- 1 Relic
- 1 #'d Ice Premieres Card
- 1 SubZero Insert (#'d) OR Black Ice Insert
- 1 #’d Parallel, Dry Ice Insert OR Exquisite Crystal Insert
- 1 Insert (Breaking the Ice, Cryogenic, Showmen OR Tickle the Twine)
Buy 2025-26 Upper Deck Ice Hockey Boxes
