The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association have reached a tentative agreement on a Return to Play plan to restart the 2019-20 season, and a memorandum of understanding that adds an additional four years to the term of the current collective bargaining agreement.
The next step in the process is the voting. The NHL board of governors must approve the agreements. Once the NHLPA’s executive committee (one player rep from each of the 31 teams) gives the package its approval, the agreement moves forward to a full membership vote.
The Return To Play plan includes rules and requirement for Phases 3 and 4 of the season restart, after the NHL paused its season on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Phase 3 is the opening of training camps, which is scheduled for July 13 in individual cities, as well as traveling to “hub” cities for additional training and exhibition play on July 26. According to the plan, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN on Sunday, Eastern Conference teams will play in Toronto and Western Conference teams in Edmonton. The conference finals and Stanley Cup Final will be held in Edmonton.
Phase 4 is the restart of the season in those hub cities with a 24-team postseason tournament. The qualification round of five-game series for the Nos. 5-12 seeds in each conference are scheduled to being Aug. 1.
The Return To Play plan includes testing protocols and how positive tests will be addressed; social distancing requirements inside of training facilities and the hub cities; who can participate in the hub cities; details on life inside the bubbles; when families can rejoin players; and what happens if positive tests are too numerous to continue play.
If players decide not to participate in the restart, they can opt out within a three-day window after the full-member vote ratifies the new CBA, with no questions asked.
The current CBA was due to expire in September 2022. The new CBA would overwrite the agreement for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons and adds an additional four seasons.
According to sources, the new CBA calls for a flat salary cap of $81.5 million for next season, where it will remain until league hockey-related revenues reach $4.8 billion, which was the amount projected for this season before it was paused; a one-time 10% salary deferral by the players next season, paid back over the course of three seasons beginning in 2022-23; capped escrow withholdings each season, starting at 20% next season to make up the revenue shortfall for owners before falling to 6% in the last year of the deal; and a return to the Winter Olympics in 2022 and 2026, pending a deal between the NHL and the International Olympic Committee.
The new CBA was seen as a critical aspect of the Return To Play plan, due to the economic uncertainty from the COVID-19 shutdown and its impact on next season’s revenue. The new CBA will cover revenue generated by the NHL’s next U.S. broadcast contract as well as those generated by the highly anticipated Seattle expansion team that will begin play in 2021-22.