NHL, players on verge of labour peace,
Bargain includes 3-year CBA extension, plus a return to play protocol
The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association are close to announcing they have struck a tentative agreement on both a return to play protocol and a three-year extension to their current collective bargaining agreement. An industry source with knowledge of the negotiations said Thursday the two sides “are there” in terms of an agreement and that a memorandum of understanding was being drawn up to present to the players and the NHL board of governors. The source was granted anonymity in order to speak freely about the negotiations.
The agreement, which would also see Toronto and Edmonton serve as host cities should games get under way later this month, would have to be ratified by both sides. The NHL board of governors is scheduled to discuss the deal on Sunday, while the players will be holding calls with their respective teams on Monday and Tuesday.
If the agreement goes through it would bring three more years of labour peace to the league, which was set to see its current CBA expire after the 2021-22 season. The new deal would end after the 2024-25 season.
Key among the details is a flat cap of $81.5 million (U.S.) for the next two seasons, with the cap rising to $82.5 million in 202223 and $83.5 million in 202324. The salary cap will not be linked to league revenues for the first time since 2005-06, but there is an opportunity to relink it in the last year of the deal.
The escrow rate — the percentage of player salaries withheld during the season as a way to ensure teams and players achieve a 50-50 split of hockeyrelated revenue — will be 20 per cent next season, up from10 per cent, then drops to 18, 12 and 9 per cent in subsequent years. The players are also taking an additional 10 per cent deferral (from salary and signing bonuses) that will be paid back to them through the next three seasons.
Salary variances on standard player contracts will also change, particularly with multiyear and front-loaded salary structures. Under the previous CBA, the year with the lowest salary could not be less than 50 per cent of the year with the highest salary. That number has dropped to 35 per cent.
The new deal would also include participation in the Winter Games in 2022 and 2026.
With the July 4 holiday weekend arriving in the United States, the two sides hoped to have a copy of the agreement into the hands of the governors and players by Friday.
The NHL paused its season on March 12 because of COVID-19. It’s currently in Phase 2 of its four-phase plan to return — allowing some voluntary practising within small groups. Phase 3 will see NHL summer camps open July 10, but reports have suggested that date could be pushed back to July 13 in order to allow time to properly establish coronavirus protocols.
Phase 4 would see the start of play-in rounds and playoffs in late July in Toronto and Edmonton.
The Maple Leafs and 11 other
Eastern Conference teams are expected to gather in Toronto, with Scotiabank Arena serving as the main game centre. The Coca-Cola Coliseum, home to the AHL Marlies, and the surrounding CNE complex could also host games, practices and the players themselves. The games in Edmonton are set to be played at Rogers Place, with Western Conference teams bubbled in the Ice District, a multi-use area being developed around the rink. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported Thursday that Edmonton would be the city that hosts the Stanley Cup final. Toronto Mayor John Tory said at his daily COVID-19 news conference Thursday he was impressed with the league’s plans for a return to play.
“They had incredibly detailed disinfection and health protection measures that were in place even within the bubble to make sure they covered every angle they possibly could from the standpoint of making sure they met our public-health objectives,” Tory said. “At least it would appear that way from what I saw.”