The NHL Players’ Association believes players will be paid in full — which is actually 72 per cent of their salaries — when the 2021 NHL season gets underway, regardless of how many games constitute the season.
There has been a push by some owners to have the players paid on a pro-rata basis if a full season is not played. The league’s governors met Thursday for an update from commissioner Gary Bettman.The players believe the memorandum of understanding they signed in the summer, one that extended the current collective bargaining agreement by six years, included the concessions necessary to get owners through the coronavirus pandemic.
The players agreed to giving owners back 20 per cent of their salaries this season through escrow, and deferred payment for 10 per cent of the remainder. So a player with a $1 million salary would draw $720,000. The first $200,000 would go back to the owners; the next $80,000 (10 per cent of the remaining $800,000) would be paid back to the players over time.
While there’s no mention of pro rata payments, the players believe the memorandum of understanding addressed the issue and they were hoping Bettman was making that point to his owners, some of whom have grumbled that they’d be better off financially by not playing at all.
A source said the NHL understood the grim realities of the coronavirus — that the next season might start without fans in the stands — when it agreed to terms with the players.
The league is still targeting a Jan. 1 opening. That date is dear to the NHL, with its history of outdoor games on that day, though no outdoor games are planned this year. There will be no all-star game, either. And the season could still start later. The lockout-shortened, 48-game season in 2013 started Jan. 20.
The conversations between the NHL and the NHLPA have been productive and collaborative, by all accounts.
The Star has confirmed the NHLPA has a 16-player return-to-play committee that includes Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman. Two Leafs, John Tavares and Jason Spezza, were on the five-member committee that helped prepare for the two bubbles that saw a two-month, 24-team post-season that ended without a single case of COVID transmitted to the players, coaches and officials involved.
The new return-to-play committee has not yet met with representatives of the league, though the leadership of the NHLPA and the league meet regularly. The league needs the players’ association to ratify any changes, including the length of the season, the length of the playoffs and the sites for games
The league is keen to get going, wanting to award the Stanley Cup by mid-July and return to a regular hockey schedule for 2021-22, when the Seattle Kraken begin play and the league will be the beneficiary of a new national U.S. TV contract. The coming season will be the final one of a 10-year, $2-billion (U.S.) deal with NBC.
Multiple ideas for 2021 have been floated, including:
- Seasons of anywhere from 48 games to 72.
- Realigned divisions to cut on travel and take into account pandemic restrictions, including a Canadian division.
- Teams playing baseball-style series, perhaps three games over four days against the same team, to cut down on travel costs.
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The NHL relies on revenue from ticket sales more than the other professional sports, which enjoy far more generous national TV deals. Statista.com estimates that NHL teams will lose an average of $1.3 million for every home game played in an empty arena. A further $215,000 is lost per game on food and beverage.
The league may be prepared to start the season without fans in most rinks. Some jurisdictions in states like Florida, Texas and Arizona may allow some fans, but the hope is fans may pack the arenas by the end of the season, or maybe the playoffs.
