Here's a look at some of the highlights of the new Collective
Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA. The CBA
was unanimously ratified by the NHL Board of Governors Friday.
|
Element |
Status |
| Term |
The CBA is six years in
duration (through the 2010-11 season) with the NHLPA
having the option to re-open the agreement after Year
Four (after the 2008-09 season). The NHLPA also has the
option of extending the CBA for an additional year at
the end of the term. |
| Salary Cap System |
The players' share will be
54% as long as league revenues are below $2.2 billion.
It will increase to 55% when league revenues are between
$2.2 billion and $2.4 billion; 56% when league revenues
are between $2.4 billion and $2.7 billion, and 57% when
league revenues in any year exceed $2.7 billion. |
| Escrow |
The determination of the
percentage withhold of player salary for purposes of
funding the player salary escrow will be determined at
four separate points during the season. The percentage
withhold will be adjusted as necessary to reflect
overall League-wide payroll at the time of the various
evaluation points, with the intention being to ensure
that sufficient monies will be available at the end of
the League Year to repay the League in the event of any
overpay on the League-wide Players' Share. |
| Team Salary Cap Range |
The payroll range in
2005-06 of the CBA will be $21.5 million (U.S.) at the
lower limit and $39 million (U.S.) at the upper limit. A
Club's payroll will include all salaries, signing
bonuses and performance bonuses paid to players. Except
in the case of bona fide long-term injury (injuries that
sideline a player for a minimum of 24 days and 10 games)
to one or more of a club's players, Club payrolls will
never be permitted to be below the minimum or in excess
of the maximum. Clubs at or near the upper limit that
have players who incur a bona fide long-term injury will
be entitled to replace up to the full value of the
injured player's NHL salary (even if such salary would
result in the club's team salary exceeding the upper
limit). The "replacement salary" will not count against
the club's upper limit but will count against the
League-wide players' share. Upon return of the injured
player, the team must come into immediate compliance
with the requirements of the payroll range. |
| Maximum Player Salary
|
No player may be eligible
to contract for or receive in excess of 20% of the
Club's upper limit in total annual compensation (NHL
salary plus signing, roster, reporting and all
performance bonuses). In 2005-06, no player will be
permitted to contract for total compensation in excess
of $7.8 million in any year of his contract. |
| Minimum Player Salary |
The minimum NHL player
salary in 2005-06 and 2006-07 will be $450,000; $475,000
in 2007-08 and 2008-09; $500,000 in 2009-10 and 2010-11,
and $525,000 in 2011-12 (to the extent the CBA is
extended by the Union). |
| Salary rollback |
All existing contracts are
rolled back 24 percent. |
| 2004-05 Contracts |
All 2004-05 contracts are
eliminated. |
| Free Agency |
For the 2005-06 season, a
player age 31 with four accrued seasons will be an
unrestricted free agent; in 2006-07, a player age 29
with four accrued seasons or with eight accrued seasons;
in 2007-08, a player age 28 with four accrued seasons or
with seven accrued seasons; beginning in 2008-09 and for
the duration of the agreement, a player age 27 with four
accrued seasons or with seven accrued seasons will be an
unrestricted free agent. For purposes of qualifying for
unrestricted free agency, the 2004-05 cancelled season
will be counted as a year of accrued service. |
| Qualifying Offers |
Players earning $660,000 or
less will be entitled to qualifying offers (QO) at 110%
of their prior year's salary; players earning more than
$660,000 and up to $1 million will be entitled to QOs at
105% of prior year's salary; players earning more than
$1 million will be entitled to QO at 100% of their prior
year's salary. |
| Salary Arbitration |
As a general matter,
players will be eligible for salary arbitration after
four years in the League instead of three. For the first
time, Clubs also will have the right to elect salary
arbitration with respect to two categories of players.
For players who are earning more than $1.5 million in
their prior year, Clubs will have the right to elect
salary arbitration in lieu of making a Qualifying Offer.
Clubs also will have the right to elect salary
arbitration with respect to other Group 2 players who
chose not to take the Club to arbitration. |
| Entry-Level System |
Entry-level salaries are
expected to be capped at around $850,000 and there is
expected to be strict limits on the bonuses that players
used to haul in big money under the previous system.
There are also suggestions that rookie contracts might
be standardized based on position.
|
| Minimum Salary |
League mininum salary is
expected to increase to $400,000 from the previous
amount of $175,000. |
| Revenue Sharing |
The top ten teams will
reportedly commit a percentage of their revenues to be
distributed to the bottom ten revenue teams in the
league. Sportsnet put the revenue sharing contribution
at $5 million to $7 million per team for the top ten
teams. |
| Luxury Tax |
The luxury tax system has
reportedly been eliminated from the deal. |
| 2004-05 Contracts |
The NHLPA is still pushing
to get 2004-05 contracts honored but the league is
expected to insist that the contracts are history.
|
| Contract Renegotiations |
Player contracts will not
be renegotiated (upward or downward) during their term.
Extensions may be negotiated but only in the final year
of the contract and only if such extension is for an
amount that can be accommodated in a Club's upper limit
for the current year or as computed for future years.
|
| Olympic Participation |
NHL players will take part
in the 2006 Turin Olympics. There will be no All- Star
game in 2006. |
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