More and more details about the NHL's new CBA continue to
trickle out. Here's a look at the latest information about the
economic system under which the league will operate beginning in
2005-06.
The actual details are expected to be made official next week
when the both the players and owners ratify the agreement.
That's expected to happen Thursday July 21.
*Indicates updated information.
|
Element |
Status |
|
Term |
Six years. |
| Salary Cap System* |
The system will cap league-wide player
salaries at 54 percent of league revenues for the time being. As
revenues grow, the players share as a percentage will grow as well. At
$2.2 billion in revenues the players will get 55 percent. The percentage
will grow to 56 percent at $2.4 billion and then hit 57 percent at $2.7
billion. |
| Escrow* |
A portion of each players salary will be
put in escrow to insure that player salaries do not exceed the set
percentage of
overall league revenues. The percentage of player salaries that goes
into escrow is not a fixed amount but will be determined at various
times during the season. |
| Team Salary Cap Range |
For 2005-06 the salary cap maximum will $39
million and the minimum will be $21.5 million based on revenues of $1.8
billion. In following years the cap will be adjusted depending on the
growth or decline in league revenues. |
| Calculating the Cap* |
An important element of the cap system is
that the cap limits how much teams can spend on salaries in a given
season, not the combined amount of player salaries on the roster at any
given time. In other words, the combined annual salaries of the players
on the roster can add up to more than the cap figure. What really
matters is how much a team spends on payroll during the season. |
| Player Salary Cap |
No player can earn more than 20 percent of
the team cap. For 2005-06 the top salary would apparently be $7.8 million. |
| Salary Rollback |
All existing player contracts will have
salaries rolled back 24 percent. |
| Free Agency* |
Free agency will stay at the current age of
31 this summer and then will eventually drop to 27 by the summer of
2008. Players will also qualify for unrestricted free agency after seven
years of NHL service beginning in 2008-09. |
| Salary Arbitration |
Two-way arbitration where both players and
teams can elect to go to arbitration. It will also be baseball style
arbitration where the arbitrator will pick either the player's offer or
the team's offer, instead of splitting the difference. |
| Qualifying Offers |
No new information. At last report
qualifying offers for restricted free agents were said to be in the
range of 100 percent across the board. |
| Entry-Level System* |
Entry-level salaries will be capped at
$850,000 and there is expected to be strict limits on the bonuses. Even
so, players could earn up to $1.7 million in a year through
performance bonuses and "exceptional" league-wide performance bonuses. |
| Minimum Salary |
$450,000. |
| Revenue Sharing* |
The top ten teams will commit a percentage
of their revenues to be distributed to the bottom 15 revenue teams in
the league. Playoff money will also be a part of the revenue sharing
pool. |
| Buyouts* |
A one-time provision where teams will be
allowed to buyout player contracts at two-thirds of their value and not
have it count against the cap in 2005-06. Buyout costs will count
against the cap in subsequent years. |
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