The offseason produced another series of rule changes designed to inject some offense into the game, though forward passing in the offensive zone was still illegal - but the rule was modified so that an offensive player could dump the puck forward from the neutral zone into the attacking zone so long as long as no offensive player was already in the attacking zone (what we now know as the 'offside' rule). Additionally, passing backward into the defensive zone from the neutral zone would now be a penalty. And the 20-minute sudden death overtime was to be replaced by a ten-minute period to be played in its entirety if regulation ended in a tie.

The handful of players on the move included Jack Barrell, now healthy again and dealt from Chicago to Quebec. Barrell had openly campaigned to be made coach in the wake of the disastrous 1927-28 campaign and owner Augustus Hoch shipped him off to Quebec, which he said was "as far from Chicago as I could send him." Another player moving on was Charlie Oliphant. The longtime Ottawa star was now a bit player and though he appeared in 43 games, his minutes were down and both he and Jim Beyer were shipped out of town as the Athletics continued to cut costs. Oliphant went to Boston while Beyer joined Barrell in Quebec.

The financial situation in Ottawa continued to be a concern. Martin Delaware, the club's owner was the last man standing from the original group of founding NAHC owners. But he was losing money and announced prior to the season that he was putting club up for sale. 

One of the game's best known pair of brothers hung up their skates in the aftermath of the 1928 Challenge Cup Finals. Pete Vandenburg, the longtime stellar defenseman played out the string in Boston with the Bees and called it quits at season's end (though he did put the skates back on briefly while coaching in the minors the next season). Pete's brother Dolph also finished his career after appearing in just two games for the Detroit Bulldogs.