Nobody wanted the NHL season to abruptly stop how it did. but it might help the league avoid another lockout.
There’s a joke among NHL fans. When it comes to the next lockout, it’s a question of if, not when. Unfortunately, fans have gotten used to a work stoppage every few years. Anything that results in a shortened season and avoids a complete cancellation like that infamous 2004-2005 season is a minor victory in our books.
The current CBA is set to expire after the 2021-22 season since both the NHL and NHLPA declined to opt out last season. For the first time in a long time, fans might not have to expect a lockout after the end of the next season. Why exactly is that?
They say one of the most valuable things you can have is time since no amount of money can buy you more of it. These past few months, we’ve all had too much time on our hands, including both the NHL and the NHLPA. As soon as the league announced it was ready to return to play, that meant it was time to enter into negotiations with the NHLPA on how the season would resume.
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Why stop there? Reports came out earlier this week that in addition to negotiating the return of the 2019-2020 NHL season, both sides are also working on a new CBA. Way to make use of their available time before both sides start talking about potential lockouts.
Compare that to how baseball has spent the past few months. One of the main criticisms of Major League Baseball has been that their league and player’s association didn’t make use of available time in discussing an agreement to return to play. Instead, they entered a short period of highly scrutinize negotiations that led pretty much nowhere. The NHL handled it much better.
Of course details on the potential new CBA are few and far between. Fox Sports reporter for the St. Louis Blues Andy Strickland reports that it might not be as much of a new CBA, but rather a six-year extension of the old CBA. Strickland also mentions that the announcement could happen at the beginning of July. No other details are known.
Hearing lots of progress being made on a CBA extension with #NHL and #NHLPA. Essentially a six year extension. A MOU could be announced as soon as the 1st week of July.
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) June 23, 2020
If this ends up being a six-year extension, hockey fans can relax than any potential lockout might not happen until 2028. Any extension must have provisions in it to add onto the current CBA, as NHL players anticipated problems with issues such as escrow payment and Olympic participation.
For those who don’t know “escrow” is the amount of money withheld from player’s pay for things such as revenue and currency variations. With the Olympics still years away, that’s a problem the NHL can revisit and deal with alter. And with current economic conditions, it’s more likely the escrow dilemma is dealt with soon.
In a long history of contentious labor negotiations, it’s nice to see the NHL and NHLPA deal with issues before they become problems. Dealing with this CBA proactively with a welcome change for both parties. Even though nobody wanted to see the season interrupted, if it helps avoid another lockout, some good did come out of this midseason pause.