|
Elliotte Friedman drops some CBA knowledge, my take on the latest |
|
|
|
|
|
Elliotte Friedman is supposed to be on vacation but dropped some knowledge - keeping with the Hamilton, Disney+ theme - on the latest CBA negotiations. A few really intriguing ideas while others that require additional clarity with my thoughts in italics. This news comes on the heels on what Bob McKenzie reported yesterday in terms of the potential time frames.
McKenzie projected timeframe:
July 13: Training camps (Phase 3) open
July 26: Teams report to Hubs
Aug 1: Games begin (Phase 4)
August 10-12 - Playoffs begin, draft likely just before this date
Early-October - Stanley Cup Finals
Late-October - Draft
November 1 - NHL free agency
What's known:
The updated rules will carry through 2025-26, although there is a provision for a one-year extension if more than $125 million in escrow is owed to the league. The salary cap for 2020-21 is $81.5 million. The NHL/NHLPA are talking about keeping it there until revenues hit $4.8 billion. At that point, they will use the two years prior to calculate the cap number — meaning the 2022-23 ceiling will be based on 2020-21 revenues. That will give more certainty and planning. (if life returns to a sense of normalcy, then the number will rise. Same could be expected from the potential future TV contract signed by the league. If one or both occur, HRR should rise).
Cap on escrow is 20 percent next season. Somewhere between 14-18 per cent in 2021-22, depending on 2020-21 revenue. Then we go 10 per cent in 2022-23, with a maximum of six per cent over the remaining term (if there is an extra year, the escrow cap will be at nine per cent). There will be a 10 per cent salary deferral next season. It will be repaid during the final three years of this CBA. (The 10% will not result in an impact to the cap. Rather, the $ from each contract will just be deferred to be repaid in the final three years of the CBA, as Friedman noted. But taking 10% off the cap with the deferral could be one way to free up additional space next season, although the last three years of the cap would be impacted).
Olympic participation for 2022 and 2026 is guaranteed pending agreement with the IOC. This year’s playoff fund (a bonus pool of money players earn the longer their team plays) will be doubled to $32 million. It is much higher this year since more teams are eligible and players are coming into a bubble during a pandemic. It will go to $20 million next season. The minimum salary will rise to $750,000 next season and reach $800,000 by the end of this deal. (Good to see a slight rise in the minimum salary. The rise in the playoff pool might help defray some of the bad feelings from the flat cap. But that's a one-time rise due to the reasons Freidman noted and likely not to be repeated)
There are some interesting modifications:
• No-move and no-trade clauses now travel with a player who has agreed to lift one, even if they haven’t kicked in (previously, the acquiring team had to agree). (Wonder how this will impact trading, if at all. If the NMC/NTC travels with a player, who had to agree to lift it to get moved, that could restrict some trading. Because a player might have agreed to waive the NMC/NTC to get moved during a long-term deal, but if the market goes south, a player might opt to stay where he is, preventing a team from making other moves)
• Players aged 35 and over can sign multi-year deals that are flat or ascending and there will be no cap hit if they retire before the deal is up (previously, the cap hit stayed no matter what). (This is a big one. Look at Ilya Kovalchuk, part of the reason for his soft market was the cap hit if he retired during the deal. Now, this problem has been removed, possibly allowing more vets to be signed. This is a way to deal with the lack of a middle class with the flat CBA, since you no longer have to worry about getting stuck with the salary of an over-35 vet if he opts to retire).
• Year-by-year variability: six-year contracts that are front-loaded and worth at least 7.5 per cent of the cap cannot exceed 35 per cent between the highest and lowest salary amounts. Rules for other contracts remain the same (I’ve heard players and teams will consider back-loading new contracts because escrow is capped at a lower number and cash flow should improve for clubs). (Interesting ideas here. The spread is a change from prior. Curently, the CBA limits salary variance on contracts from year to year to no more than 35% and no year can be less than 50% of the highest year. That gap has now been narrowed to 35%. Backloading makes sense, but that might make it harder to move a contract in the future due to the higher salary figure. This is why, for example, moving Henrik Lundqvist or Brendan Smith might occur, since the salary now is below the cap hit. In the future, this could be the inverse)
• No changes to signing bonuses (A shocker. Because this one appeared to be the cause celebre recently and one that cried for change. Wonder if the player drew the line on this, but the lockout potential is removed with a six-year CBA, which might have cause a change in thought)
* There are no more conditional picks in trades based on a player re-signing with the acquiring team. For example, the New Jersey Devils’ current third-rounder from Arizona in the Taylor Hall deal upgrades if he re-signs with the Coyotes. Agents and NHLPA staff felt it hurt players’ value. (this possibly hurts value but was a way to get a little kicker or upgrade in a deal. Because now, either a pick will need to be included or not, making agreeing on a deal a bit harder. Think of the Zucc deal. Now, to get that little additional oomph, the conditional pick would need to be included in the initial deal or the original pick traded may need an upgrade rather than also being conditional on playoff rounds advanced.
As for return to play, anyone has the right to opt out without penalty. There will be pre-testing before everyone travels to the hub, and in the final week before arrival everyone will be asked to stay at home as much as possible, besides going to the rink. Once there, testing will take place on a daily basis, as each team will have a set time each day depending on their schedule. (all of this makes sense and more to come on how the protocol will operate)
Open items to me include:
- clarity if players like Romanov, Sorokin and Kaprizov will be eligible this year or definitely not?
- contracts, eight or seven years?
- confirming no salary rollbacks, which was implemented following a prior lockout?
New York Rangers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»