NHL-CBA talks set to begin in February; Hronek will be out for 8 weeks

Canucks center Elias Pettersson (40) celebrates his goal with former Red Wing Filip Hronek (17) against Detroit goalie Alex Lyon at Little Caesars Arena in February 2024.

The NHL’s collective bargaining agreement does not expire until September 15, 2026. The fact that negotiations on a new deal are scheduled to begin in early 2025 is already a step further than in the past in ice hockey collective bargaining.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier this week he expects discussions with the NHL Players’ Association to begin in February, around the time stakeholders gather for the four-nation clash, the latest example of cooperation in this one Sport applies.

Both sides have issues to address and want change, but the league’s evolution combined with the good working relationship between Bettman and union executive Marty Walsh means there is reason for optimism in a sport that has experienced three labor stoppages in the last three decades .

Bettman is in the process of interviewing owners and general managers, as well as Walsh and his more than 700 players, to find out what issues are most important to them.

The existing salary cap system and 50/50 revenue split are unlikely to change, and there is already an agreement to send NHL players to the 2026 and 2030 Olympics. This leaves a few topics open.

What are the problems?

After previous negotiations focused on how money would be divided, owners and players have shifted their focus to increasing revenue available to everyone. Thanks to new media rights deals in the US (with another coming to Canada in 2026) and new revenue streams such as the 4 Nations event, jersey and helmet advertising and a range of sponsorship deals, revenues are reaching new records each season.

Points of contention

The expansion fees went entirely to the owners, including $500 million when Vegas joined and $650 million from Seattle. Bettman has said there are currently no plans to expand to more than 32 teams, but it’s no secret that there is interest from ownership groups in Atlanta and elsewhere, and whether that counts as hockey-related revenue – the one with the players be shared – could be a topic of conversation.

The salary cap

The deciding factor for the salary cap is hockey revenue, which includes ticket sales, television money and more. With revenue remaining flat and only increasing minimally due to the pandemic, the cap for each team is now $88 million, with a projected $92.5 million next season.

With revenues rising, there is debate about whether players want to push for a quicker cap increase, which would result in higher salaries for players across the league.

“I like it calm and even,” Bettman said Sunday in Boston. “There are no discussions yet. So when I say “smooth and stable” it doesn’t mean I have any numbers in mind, and it doesn’t mean the cap couldn’t rise faster, but we’re nowhere near anything like a substantive discussion about it.”

Walsh said players would love to see the cap raised because “it moves everyone up.”

“It’s not just about the top players,” Walsh said. “The point is that there are also opportunities for improvement for all other players. And I think that’s important for raising the cap and important for revenue.”

The 2020 CBA extension included caps on the escrow account withheld from players’ paychecks to balance the 50/50 split. Something like this is expected to continue as discussions become more heated.

“It’s just a matter of deciding what things are important to you, what things you might want to be different,” Washington Capitals assistant player representative Trevor van Riemsdyk said Monday. “That’s a difficult thing about all of this because not everyone is in the same position. “Some people are in the middle of long deals, others are looking for new deals, so you’re going to want different things.”

From a league perspective, the long-term injured reserve rules and the question of how much money teams spend over the cap could be among the requested optimizations. Player pensions, medical care and who has final say on surgeries, and the schedule that calls for a long preseason and hockey through the end of June could come up from the union side.

Why so hopeful?

The NHL, like other professional leagues, has a history of work stoppages. The 2004–05 lockout disrupted an entire season, and talks for the 2012–13 season pushed back the start to January.

It’s hard to imagine such problems this time. The early start has led to some speculation that a new agreement could be finalized by late spring or early summer – more than a year before the deadline.

Bettman said Walsh, a former federal labor secretary and before that mayor of Boston, “takes a very professional, sophisticated approach” and understands that “everyone does better when we work together.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t represent your constituents vigorously, but you choose the things that matter — and the places where you can work together, you should do so for the greater good,” Bettman said. “He understands this better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

This will be Walsh’s first CBA trial. Don Fehr, known for his longtime leadership of the Major League Baseball Players Association, was the union’s executive director at the 2012-13 and 2020 talks, and before that it was Bob Goodenow in 2004-05.

“Marty obviously has a lot of experience working with unions,” van Riemsdyk said. “He’s a tenacious guy, he worked in Boston and we have the utmost confidence in him and his ability to convey to the owners what’s most important to the players.”

Walsh said the sport of hockey is in a transition phase far enough away from negotiations that it has not become a day-to-day focus, and Bettman cautioned against setting an artificial timeline for a new deal.

The NHL is also in a strong position given the quality of play on the ice and the booming business all around. It does no one any good to stop this dynamic.

“They probably had the greatest fiscal year, the greatest gate year, one of the greatest, if not the best year of television as far as audiences,” Walsh said. “Going into collective bargaining is a good place to be.”

Former wing Hronek is out for 8 weeks

Former Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek will miss approximately eight weeks following successful surgery on his lower body, Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Hornek, who signed an eight-year, $58 million contract with the team last offseason, had one goal and eight assists in 21 games for Vancouver.

Hronek suffered the injury in the final minute of a loss to the Penguins last week. After a hit from defender Jack St. Ivany, he went shoulder first into the end boards. He left the ice, resting his right shoulder. It is unclear when the lower body disease occurred.

“I think if you play in this league long enough, whether as a player or as a coach, you’re going to experience adversity and you have to stick together as a group,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said Friday.

“It’s a matter for the committee. You can’t take it upon yourself as an individual to lead a team.”

The NHL games on Tuesday

St. Louis 4, (at) Winnipeg 1: Jordan Kyrou scored two goals and Dylan Holloway had a goal and an assist to help the Blues win over the Jets.

Robert Thomas also scored an empty-net goal for the Blues, who are on a four-game points streak. Joel Hofer made 22 saves for St. Louis and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 of 31 shots.

Mark Scheifele was the lone scorer for the Jets, who have lost four straight games and are 1-5-0 in their last six games.

(At) Minnesota 3, Vancouver 2 (OT): Kirill Kaprizov scored with 23.4 seconds left in overtime and the Wild rallied for their sixth win in eight games.

Frederick Gaudreau and Jake Middleton also scored goals for Minnesota and Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves. The Wild improved to 17-4-4, matching an NHL-best 38 points.

Quinn Hughes and Jake DeBrusk scored for Vancouver, and Elias Pettersson had two assists. Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves but lost for the first time in 11 away starts.

17-year-old player dies

A 17-year-old hockey player collapsed during a charity game in New York and later died, authorities said.

Connor Kasin, a senior at Massapequa High School on Long Island, lost consciousness Saturday night during a game to benefit a foundation set up by the parents of another area teenager, 19-year-old Sabrina Navaretta, in April Killed in a car crash in 2023.

Nassau County police said in a news release that people at the rink in Bethpage, New York, were performing CPR when officers and paramedics arrived.

Kasin was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. A police spokesman said on Monday there was no information about his cause of death.

Massapequa High School announced Kasin’s death in a letter to students and families, the New York Post reported.

“It is heartbreaking to report that Connor did not survive. His death is devastating to the Massapequa community and we extend our deepest condolences to Connor’s family and friends,” the letter said.

The New York Islanders High School Hockey League, which organizes high school hockey competition for schools on Long Island, has canceled all games scheduled for Sunday out of respect for Kasin’s family.

Michigan Region Ice Hockey Schedule

Tuesday

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