Leafs punished in latest CBA after other teams complain to Bettman

With the NHL and NHLPA officially agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) last week, fans and analysts are now digging into the details of the new agreement that governs the league. Sure, things like changes to Olympic participation and changes to free agency rules were publicized at the time that the agreement was made, but smaller details and more nuanced language can be more difficult to pick up on. Shout out to all the CBA nerds out there combing through this document for some interesting tidbits.

Tidbits like…

The NHL forcing the Toronto Maple Leafs to shut down their offseason training facilities.

Say what!? 

Exactly that. 

According to Sportsnet hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs have been forced to close their doors to players and prospects during the offseason due to the amount of complaints that the arrangement generated from other NHL teams. The Leafs would typically keep their facilities open to players and prospects so that they can train during the offseason but other teams evidently saw this is an unfair competitive advantage and complained to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. As a result, the Leafs are no longer allowed to open their doors to players and prospects during the offseason.

Check it out: 

Elliotte Friedman on SN590 says that with the new CBA: one thing that changed was that other teams saw how TOR kept their facilities open during past offseasons for players and prospects to train, but other teams didn’t like it and felt it was unfair, so now they can’t anymore.

Direct quote: “Toronto was a team that, a lot of their prospects, or a number of them, would come to Toronto in the summer and they’d work out at the practice facility and they really improved as players. And teams were like we don’t like that.”

I have to say… what a load of BS.

The Leafs are simply opening their doors to their players in the hopes that they’ll improve themselves during the offseason. There is no mandatory training or testing going on during the offseason. This is 100% voluntary and it gives the players access to a world class training facility. Shutting down this program is simply sour grapes from the rest of the league. 

What do you think?