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#FlaPanthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is going to donate $100,000 to make sure all part-time staff who work at BB&T Center get paid during this hiatus. His teammates will match that $100,000 with ownership putting in whatever else is needed. pic.twitter.com/SKNSrjrecO
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) March 13, 2020
*not Detroit, but awesome to see a player helping pay staff salaries. Well done sir
Some teams have played 71, some have played 68. The standings are all over the place for “bubble teams… but all is steady at the bottom. After Detroit’s last loss, being in 31st place was a guarantee. For this club, the paused season has no impact in the standings. The issues set forth by the Corona Virus are simply changing summer plans for these players at this point.
The under 18 world championship has been cancelled. It’s not a stretch to think that the Men’s world will also be cancelled. And so, there is no “extra… playing available for Detroit’s top players this year. A long summer just got a little bit longer.
The problem that has the NHL “stressed… has to do with assigning points based on schedule wins/losses if no other games can be played. There are a few teams that will feel the pain of that, but for the most part the top teams remain unchallenged. The thought of bubble teams being “robbed… is, again, minimal impact.
The real issue is revenue. That last CBA split of 50/50 rears its ugly head once again. Starting with losses at the gate and concessions, there could be losses of 5 million per game (way more in some markets, less in others). If you project that out to 31 teams, that’s 155 million in lost on site revenue per game x games yet to be played. At 10 games left, that could be a chunk. . That is before Ad revenue that would have to be refunded. On ice ads, ads on the boards, television ads etc. season tickets would have to be refunded, and restaurants around town will be empty.
So, what is the answer? Are players going to forfeit 10 games worth of pay? That, unfortunately would be a burden most felt by the lowest paid players. Top players may have already been paid in bonus and the actual salary isn’t as big of a deal. This may be a good time to look at the “emergency fund…. The fund that Tom Wilson and Brand Marchand have helped grow. Some types of insurance will protect venues against cancelled events, and there are other failsafe measures in place. The big issue will be the salary cap. Already, there is a huge chunk that will be missing in year end revenue.
The easiest answer, just repeat the same cap. Treat this as what it is, a bizarre situation that needs to be worked around by everyone. Use the 2018-2019 numbers for next year’s cap, or just agree on a “freeze….
If you have some other thoughts, share them! This is a strange time and we’re hearing everything from selfish people who are “inconvenienced… to people buying more toilet paper than they could ever use. Hopefully, organizations will take care of the every day workers who live paycheck to paycheck. That would bring some more humanity to the situation.