Now is not the time to panic over the 2020-21 NHL season.
Keeping in line with what has been the year from hell, 2020 continues to deliver gut punches with recent reports suggesting that the new NHL season could be hanging in the balance.
In a year that has delivered crushing blow after crushing blow after crushing blow, we could be in more pain before the New Year is ushered in.
Of course, we’ll preface this by clearing stating that what we are about to delve into pales into comparison to the wider issues caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, but this is a hockey site so this is our main focus.
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According to multiple reports, including from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the 2020-21 NHL season is at severe risk of being scrapped due to negotiations that have taken a sharp nosedive.
In meetings this week between the NHL and the NHLPA, players and the Return To Play Committee were left stunned, “angry” and “betrayed” after the league asked that they take on more financial concessions than was agreed upon in the new CBA that was only signed, sealed and delivered back in July.
Despite the new agreement bringing much-needed peace to the NHL for at least the next four years, the league have asked for some adjustments to the CBA in order to help soften the blow of the financial losses caused by the Pandemic.
As mapped out by Friedman in his excellent column, the players originally agreed to a 10 percent deferral for the upcoming year, with the Escrow cap set at 20 percent for the 2020-21 season, 14-18 percent for 2021-22, 10 percent in 2022-23 and six percent for the remaining three seasons.
However, according to Friedman and several other well-respected sources, the NHL has mapped out two proposals to the players with the first one being that the Escrow cap will increase to 25 percent and the deferred compensation will rise to 20 percent in 2020-21.
The second proposal was more long-term with the league asking for deferred compensation to increase to a sharp 26 percent for 2020-21 and the Escrow to increase slightly in years four to six of the CBA.
We all know that players shudder at the mere mention of that dirty word Escrow, so it is no surprise that players are feeling rather angry and resentful towards the league right now, especially after making tremendous sacrifices to ensure that a Stanley Cup Champion was crowned in 2019-20.
Plus, having only agreed to the new CBA a matter of months ago, I get the frustrations that some feel as though a gun is now being put to the head of the players.
From the league’s perspective, they have to deal with the reality that the 2020-21 season will start without fans and, with the NHL being a gate-driven league, the losses will be more substantial than first feared.
Therefore, the NHL and the owners are trying to come up with whatever solution they can to try and minimize the damage that will be wreaked by more significant losses.
However, this dispute has spilled out into the public domain and it can’t afford to get ugly because, as we saw with MLB back in the summer, arguing over money is never a good look and especially in the midst of a Pandemic when so many have lost so much.
Personally, I’m not ready to push the panic button just yet and I strongly feel that both parties will eventually put their egos aside and come to an agreement that is best for all concerned.
Granted, in a poll put up on our Twitter page, currently 75 percent of you have a bad feeling and are worried about the future of the 2020-21 season, while just 25 percent agree with my sentiment.
But, the reason I’m feeling fairly positive is that the NHL can’t afford to just shut things down and lose a whole season.
Why?
Because it would be absolutely detrimental to the long-term health of both the sport and the league and could spark serious and incredibly scary repercussions for years to come.
We saw first hand the bad taste that was left in the mouth of many in the wake of the very public and very ugly dispute in Major League Baseball and, although their season went ahead, many of their fans were left feeling letdown and slapped in the face by their favorite sport.
That is a near-fatal mistake the NHL can’t afford to make.
Already fighting for precious real estate when it comes to attracting new fans to the sport, the league has to understand that they are the fourth most popular sport in the United States and, as a result, disappearing for a year would be utterly catastrophic to the NHL’s brand and the damage caused may even be irreparable.
That’s why I’m sure an agreement will be thrashed out to ensure that the 2020-21 season starts on Jan. 1, 2021 because, if it isn’t, I dread to think of what the wreckage may look like.
Let’s hope I’m right and that the airing of dirty laundry is kept to a minimum while this current dispute is tempered and then resolved.
Because it simply has to be for the very future health of the NHL.