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A tentative agreement On a 56 game season has been reached. This still needs to be ratified. The “all Canadian” league is included in the current proposal
The times seemed to be changing, positive signs appearing that the NHL season will soon be a reality. With the recall of Hronek and Zadina (termination of current overseas contracts) it seemed like an announcement was just days away. Unfortunately, it’s “hurry up and wait” all over again.
There are still reports that January 13th could be a reality, but skepticism would be highly encouraged at this point. Other bizarre tidbits have floated out as well. The NHL has made some thinly veiled threats to the Canadian provinces that those teams will play the entire season south of the border if progress isn’t made on restrictions. In the words of my British step-dad (God I miss him), not bloody likely.
While a “multi bubble” scenario with an all Canadian division seemed to be gaining steam, reports that the NHL wants all 31 buildings up and running to start the season. That one hit me like a ton of bricks. Most of you know that I’m trying to give owners and players a fair glance in regards to how this process needs to work. The NHLPA executive board is meeting today, but the NHL board of governors isn’t. Paperwork will have to be voted on and signed by both sides to be able to move forward.
This feels like a big step backward. In the “multi bubble” scenario, scheduling wasn’t nearly the concern that trying to have all 31 teams up and running is. I live in Michigan, it’s not happening here for a bit still. We’re on lockdown. California will be a similar scenario. Pretty much all the teams in Canada as well as the Rangers are in a similar boat. It feels a bit like a gut punch that there may have been no real intention to get the bubbles figured out. I hope that is just a misinterpretation on my part.
The current scenarios being “floated” include a February start, along with the aforementioned Canadian relocation (again, not likely). The missing piece in all the “bubble scenarios” was always revenue. The amount of money paid out by clubs with nothing coming in is going to keep going up. That’s the nagging point that will bring some serious issues after the 21/22 season when escrow is set to drop to 6%. With an estimated 1.5 billion dollar shortfall from 19/20, a season without fans could easily send that over the 2 billion dollar mark. Clearly, there are owners who are sticking to their guns. They don’t want another season of massive losses.
The portrayed attitude by players and owners has been, “get the season going, accept the loss, but try and keep the sport going”.
you can look back, at my post regarding the Forbes evaluations to see how tight some teams are. You’ve got the billion dollar teams at the top (Rangers, Leafs, Canadiens, Bruins, Blackhawks) who can certainly navigate through more losses. 20 teams are worth around 600 million or less with several reporting negative overall operating costs. That’s a huge drop off. Another season of loss will shift the market value in the wrong direction and another season of a net loss could shut some doors.
This is the last thing I wanted to be writing about heading into the weekend. The stalemate still seems to continue. Players are refusing more deferment or escrow, (will receive 72% of pay for a season with fewer than 60% games played) and there are enough owners that are taking a loss to hold things up. The TV deal with NBC is up, and local affiliates still have the short season penalty (money charged back from the NHL) for fewer than 82 games played.
My hope in all of this is some “brass tacks” type work. Owners, make up your mind. If you can’t afford to open the doors, just own it and let us know. Players, take a hard look at getting paid in direct correlation to games played. It stinks, but it’s going to be necessary. Stringing this along and releasing statements to the press to try and negotiate is a waste of time and border line sophomoric. Most of us accept that, if the season comes back, it’s going to be an anomaly. This isn’t about trying to feel like any type of “normal”, it’s about keeping fans and interest in the game.
In a side not of interest, a few small deals around the league are coming together. Anthony Duclair signed a 1 year 1.7 million dollar deal with Florida. He turned down a 2 year 6 million dollar deal from Ottawa and chose to represent himself. Players are just now seeing their lack of leverage. I would have loved to see AD in Detroit. Athanasiou still hasn’t found work, and his season last year wasn’t nearly as good as Duclair. There are bargains to be had.
I’ll keep my ear to the ground and pass on any updates. It’s disappointing that the path that many of us thought existed to the sport’s return may have been just “spitballing” without much internal support. A schedule has to be submitted to get the season going. For that, venues have to be chosen and approved. Hopefully we’re just a few tweaks away.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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