No NHL lockout but many changes coming in new CBA

The National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association have completed work on a Collective Bargaining Agreement extension and there will be labour peace in the NHL.

Pierre LeBrun reported on Friday that the agreement is in place and a deal will be officially announced at a news conference in Los Angeles at 1pm ET, prior to tonight’s Draft.

The four-year extension will provide extended labor peace in a sport that has had different work stoppages, including back in 2004-05 when a lockout twiped out an entire season.

As LeBrun points out “the usual P.S. here is that constituents on both sides (players and owners) will still need to vote on the agreement before it’s officially ratified.”

The new labour agreement includes a few changes with the regular season increasing to 84 games from 82. There is also the maximum length of contracts that will be shorten and the addition of a playoff salary cap for the first time. Extending the regular season from a total of 1,312 games to 1,344 would also come with curtailing exhibition play.

Since 2013, players have been allowed to re-sign with their current team for up to 8 years, or sign elsewhere for 7. Under the proposed new CBA, that would drop to 7 years and 6 years, respectively.

A postseason salary cap is also being discussed — a move that would close the LTIR “loophole” teams like Chicago (2015), Tampa (2021), and Vegas (recently) have used to stack their rosters once the playoffs begin.

Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA boss Marty Walsh both sounded optimistic at the Stanley Cup Final, hinting that a new deal could be wrapped up soon.

If finalized, this would be the first full CBA update since 2013, combining elements from that deal and the emergency pandemic agreement from 2020.

This is good news, but what do you make of the projected changes?