NHL Reconstructs Offer to NHLPA

Gary Bettman and company met with Donald Fehr and members of the NHLPA in New York on Tuesday to present their latest proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement, which must be in place by September 15 before the 2012-13 season is locked out. 

As you likely recall, the original proposal from the League and its owners was not one that went over very well with the players, as was evident by the NHLPA's counterproposal that brought about major disagreements when it came to the players' share of revenue, various contract limitations, a new salary cap layout, among many other aspects of the contract. So both sides went back to the drawing board, but essentially, it was the League that had to make the next move in response to the P.A.'s first counteroffer. That move, which included several 'tweaks' as compared to the original, was made yesterday. 

According to TSN, the owners have agreed to lower their demands in the latest proposal, which were approximately $460 million the first time around. In the new proposal, which is mapped out over a six-year period, the first three years would include pre-negotiated players' share dollar thresholds: 11-percent, 8.5-percent and 5.5-percent less than the 2011-12 totals, respectively. This is in addition to "upside hockey-related revenue growth" of over 10% in each of the first three years that the players would also be getting a share of.

And for the second three years of the proposal, players would receive a 50-50 cut.

So, right off the bat, we see more revenue-related cash coming to the players as compared to the NHL's first proposal. Will it be enough to completely suffice the players? That is highly unlikely, but changes were made in their favor to the aspect of the new CBA that they have claimed to be the most important to their side of the debate. Hopefully, with that, they will feel obligated to use this as a basis for legitimate negotiating to get the ball rolling much faster than it has been. 

But revenue sharing is not the only area of the NHL's proposal that underwent some adjustments. The salary cap layout has also seen some changes, but nothing close to what the players, presumably, will be looking for. 

In the NHL's new proposal, the salary cap would start at $58 million in the first year, then jump to a fixed $60 million in the second year and $62 million in the third. For the final three years of the proposal, the cap is projected to climb to $64.2 million in 2015-16, $67.6 million in 2016-17 and $71.1 million in 2017-18.

Realize, though, that under the current CBA standards, next season's cap would be projected to land at approximately $70.2 million, meaning the new CBA would be taking major steps backward in that respect. Plus, it would take the full six years before the cap reached the point it is at now. 

My hypothesis? The salary cap issue is going to become one of the top three that will keep the NHL and NHLPA apart in negotiations. 

But what occurred yesterday was, all in all, something we can consider progress. It's a long-shot that it was enough progress to get a new CBA drawn up by September 15, but we can only hope that its was a kick-start to the process.