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NHL has a newly agreed upon CBA for next six years |
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The NHL will have labor peace the next six years.
It was really important to get this done because of all the Covid crap. This CBA had a lot of parameters about how to navigate the economics moving forward after the virus decimated normalcy. There were a lot of escrow related matters about how to move forward and if this deal wasn’t approved it wasn’t something they were going to return back to in quick order. It would have wreaked havoc on the salary cap for next year. Figures as low as 60-65M per Bob McKenzie and for many teams that wouldn’t be good. Here is how Bob explained the stakes earlier today before the vote was public.
The real question is what happens if the players did reject the agreement(s)? I don’t believe it’s possible to reject this deal and immediately return to the bargaining table. It’s now or never for 2019-20 RTP and this CBA extension. It’s a package deal.
A rejection would mean no conclusion to 2019-20 season. No 2019-20 season would add to the loss of HRR, creating a further negative impact on players and owners. No RTP, no CBA extension, so there would be two more seasons under the existing CBA.
One of those two seasons, 2020-21, won’t start until later in the fall or perhaps winter and it’s unknown now whether it will include no fans or some fans and the negative impact on HRR quite conceivably will continue.
Depending on who you talk/whose numbers you use, there’s “talk” that starting next season without a CBA extension/transition rules could mean an NHL salary cap in $60M to $65M range with escrow rates north of 50 per cent. I don’t vouch for those #’s but forecasts would be dire.
Then there would be one more season under old CBA before it expires. And then what? Lockout? No one knows but it’s difficult to imagine it being pleasant/profitable. So it’s not just a matter of voting on a six-year agreement, it’s contemplating the alternative for the next two.
The players only needed a majority. They got plenty more. The vote was 78.8% in favor of the deal.
Another huge part of the CBA is the return of NHL players to Olympic Hockey. I can only speak for myself, but the Olympics are awesome and it is some of the hockey I enjoy watching most when NHL players are eligible. I really think we missed out by not having NHL players in the 2018 games. We lost things like seeing Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby running a power play. The Americans have two amazing centers in Jack Eichel and Auston Matthews who we haven’t seen play at a high level international competition together (for the US, Team North America kicked ass).
Switching gears back to this year’s season we have a nice visual outlining the first potential ten days back in action. This would be really fun if the virus doesn’t screw it up
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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