Do the NHL and NHLPA have a deal in principle on a new CBA? It
probably depends on your definition of a deal in principle. But
from all appearances the two sides appear very close to
presenting the deal to owners and players for ratification.
There is belief the two sides could announce the deal as early
as this weekend. It may not come until early next week.
Whenever it comes, there may not be much fanfare though.
Perhaps just a simple press release.
It may be another week to ten days after that before there is a
formal press conference to announce that the league is
officially back in business.
That's if all goes well and both sides ratify the agreement. The
owners are expected to give their stamp of approval to the deal.
The players could be a different story according to some
reports.
Here's a look at the latest speculation and reports on the key
elements of the deal.
|
Element |
Status |
| Salary Cap System |
The system will cap league-wide player
salaries at 54 percent of league revenues. A portion of each player's
salary (15 percent according to the Los Angeles Times) will be escrowed
to insure compliance. |
| Team Salary Cap Range |
The salary cap range numbers vary, but a
minimum team payroll of $22-24 million and a maximum of $36-39 million
continue to be the most widely reported figures. The Los Angeles Times
recently put the initial cap figure at $37 million and the floor amount
at $24 million. |
| Player Salary Cap |
Both the Los Angeles Times and Ottawa Sun
report that there may be cap on individual player salaries. The maximum
individual salary would be 20 percent of the team cap figure. |
| 24 Percent Rollback |
The 24 percent salary rollback will
apparently be part of the deal. |
| Free Agency |
Free agency will stay at the current age of
31 this summer and then will eventually drop to 28. |
| Qualifying Offers |
The Ottawa Sun reported recently that
qualifying offers for restricted free agents will be 100 percent across
the board. |
| Salary Arbitration |
There's talk of baseball-style arbitration
where both sides make an offer and the arbitrator picks one or the
other. In other words, no splitting the difference as had been the case
in the past. |
| 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. |
| Buyouts |
There will reportedly be a time frame this
summer during which teams can buyout players and not have the cost (67
percent) charged against the salary cap. The catch is that teams
will not be able to re-sign the the players whose contracts were bought
out. |
| Contract Restructuring |
The New York Post reported that contract
extensions will not change the cap charges of existing contracts. That
apparently means teams will not be able to restructure current contracts
and defer money to later years to to create more cap space. |
| Olympic Participation |
NHL players will apparently take part in
the 2006 Turin Olympics. There will be no All- Star game in 2006. |
| Schedule/Playoffs |
Anaheim GM Brian Burke told CKNW radio in
Vancouver recently that he had heard the league would stick with an 82-game
schedule but would go ahead with plans to expand the playoffs. |
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