Players reject offer to extend CBA for 2018 Olympics deal
NHL players could still go to the 2018 Olympics, but it won’t be in exchange for extending the collective-bargaining agreement through 2025.
A person with direct knowledge of the decision said the Players’ Association Friday rejected the NHL’s offer to extend the current CBA three years in exchange for an agreement to go to Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.
The Canadian Press first reported the NHLPA rejected the offer, which was made by the NHL amid talks with the International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic Committee.
NHL players have participated in the past five Olympics dating to 1998, but there’s doubt about 2018 because of the IOC’s reluctance to pay for insurance and expenses.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has set a January deadline for a decision.
IOC President Thomas Bach said it’s in the interest of all parties for NHL players to be in the Olympics.
He told The Olympic Channel that that “all the rational arguments are speaking in favor of participation.”
Players have expressed a desire to go to the Olympics, but not in exchange for this long of an extension of the CBA. Currently, either side could opt out of the agreement in the fall of 2019.
Overall, league player’s didn’t seem keen on the idea of taking such an offer without a chance to talk about some elements they’d like to see changed in the current CBA.
Players don’t like the escrow system, and that is reportedly a component they’d like to discuss when this current deal expires.
“That’s not negotiating. It’s not,” Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said when he was asked about the offer.
“As an athlete, it’s your right to go to the Olympics. I don’t know if [the report] is true. I hope it’s not. That’s not the way you negotiate things.
“But, if that is true, all of a sudden they don’t mind having a two-week break in the NHL for a three-year collective-bargaining agreement.”
Note
Justin Abdelkader is expected to miss two to four weeks with what the team describes as a slight MCL strain. The 29-year-old forward left Detroit’s loss to Florida Thursday night in the first period. Abdelkader has four goals and four assists in 22 games this season.
Last night’s game
Flames 3, Wild 2: Sean Monahan scored the shootout winner in Calgary’s victory against visiting Minnesota. Monahan waited out Devan Dubnyk before snapping a shot over the goalie’s right pad. Calgary’s Chad Johnson then stopped Charlie Coyle’s attempt at the other end to seal the victory.