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Examining Some Major CBA Changes

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While the focus for many hockey fans today will be on the return to play protocols and when their individual team will resume the chase for the Stanley Cup, the vote between the NHL and NHLPA also officially introduced a CBA extension. With that extension, that will run through September 15, 2026 (but also has some built-in extenders), the two sides also agreed to several changes to contract structure rules and enforcement. We’ll go over some of the most striking changes here:

  • NMC/NTC: No-move or no-trade clauses that have been included in contracts but have not yet kicked in will remain even if a player is traded. In 2016, the Montreal Canadiens traded P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators just a few days before his no-trade clause was set to begin. Under the old rules, the Predators had the choice of whether to honor that clause or not. They decided not to (Predators GM David Poile is notorious for not including no-trade clauses in most of his own deals) and subsequently traded Subban to the New Jersey Devils a few years later.
  • UFA Interview Period: The interview period that immediately precedes the league’s free agency period has been eliminated. Previously, the league allowed teams to speak with pending free agents a few days before their contracts actually expired, in order to allow players and front offices a little more time to negotiate. That period has been eliminated, meaning there will be a rush to get in contact with players the moment free agency begins.
  • Recapture Penalties: Cap recapture penalties cannot exceed in any one year the contract’s average annual value. Under the old rule, the Predators were in danger of facing a ~$24.6MM cap penalty if Shea Weber decided to retire before the 2025-26 season. That penalty, should it happen, would now be spread over several years and not be able to exceed the $7.86MM cap hit Weber carries. So far, only the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers have been dinged with recapture penalties, both stemming from Roberto Luongo’s early retirement.
  • Trade Conditions: A team can no longer include a condition in a trade that would send further compensation if a player is re-signed. This is only applicable if the traded player has an NHL contract at the time of the trade. Before this rule, teams were almost always including an additional condition in trades that would net them an extra piece of compensation if the acquiring team re-signed the player. A notable recent example was when the San Jose Sharks re-signed Evander Kane after acquiring him from the Buffalo Sabres. The decision to re-sign Kane came with an increased cost to the Sharks, as a conditional fourth-round selection was upgraded to a first-round pick.
  • Eight-Year Extensions: Teams no longer need to wait until after the following trade deadline to sign a newly acquired player to an eight-year extension. In the case of Erik Karlsson, the Sharks were not permitted to sign him for an eighth year until the trade deadline had passed after acquiring him from the Ottawa Senators.
  • Qualifying Offers: A qualifying offer for a restricted free agent is no longer automatically equal to the final year’s salary.  Instead, it will be the lower of the salary in the final year or 120% of the AAV of the contract. Timo Meier notably used the old rule to his advantage when negotiating his new contract, back-loading the deal to force a $10MM qualifying offer when it expires. This change only applies to contracts signed from here on out, meaning Meier (and others like Brock Boeser) will still receive qualifying offers equal to their final contracted year.
  • Olympic Participation: Both sides have committed to participating in both the 2022 and 2026 Olympic Games. Though this isn’t contractual, it was a big point of emphasis for the players in CBA negotiations.
  • RFA and Draft Pick Contracts: Teams can start signing restricted free agents and draft picks to contracts starting in 2020-21 on Monday. They can also extend players who have contracts expiring after the 2020-21 season. Players like Kirill Kaprizov, Ilya Sorokin and Alexander Romanov will have a three-day window to sign for 2019-20 and burn a year off their entry-level contracts, but will not be allowed to play in the playoffs.

Given that the document released today is only a memorandum of understanding and not the official CBA, there are bound to be more changes noticed in the weeks to come.

NHL, NHLPA Ratify Return To Play, CBA Extension

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The NHL’s Board of Governors and the NHLPA have ratified their agreement that covers both a return to play for the 2019-20 season and an extension to the current CBA until 2026. The deal includes several tweaks to transaction and contract rules but will ensure financial stability for the players and labor peace for the next several years.

Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that the vote among players was 502-135 in favor of the agreement.

With the ratified deal in place the league’s Phase 3—training camp for those 24 teams involved in the expanded playoffs—is set to begin on Monday with games scheduled to kick off on August 1. The Stanley Cup is scheduled to be awarded in October, while the 2020-21 season will hopefully start in December.

The salary cap ceiling is expected to stay at $81.5MM for the 2020-21 season and potentially for several years thereafter.

Should any player wish to opt-out of the upcoming playoff tournament, he will be allowed to penalty-free as long as he does so in writing before 4pm on Monday. The MLB has recently seen several high-profile players opt-out of their shortened season, though they are not working out of hub cities and continuing to travel around North America. The NBA, which has set up a bubble in Florida, has also seen players opt-out including two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo.

The NHL has also announced that the 2020 Entry Draft has been tentatively scheduled for October 9-10. The second phase of the draft lottery will be held after the qualification round.

As part of the agreement, the NHL will once again be sending players to the Olympic Games.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released the following statement:

Today, the NHL and the NHLPA announced a significant agreement that addresses the uncertainty everyone is dealing with, the framework for the completion of the 2019-20 season and the foundation for the continued long-term growth of our League. I thank NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr and Special Assistant to the Executive Director Mathieu Schneider, the more than 700 NHL Players – particularly those who worked on our Return to Play Committee – and the NHL’s Board of Governors for coming together under extraordinary circumstances for the good of our game. While we have all worked very hard to try to address the risks of COVID-19, we know that health and safety are and will continue to be our priorities. We know that all of our fans are excited about our return to the ice next month and that has been our goal since we paused our season on March 12.

The league has also included a schedule for the first ten days of the qualification round.

Snapshots: Ratification, Murray, Evason

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The NHL’s Board of Governors has a conference call scheduled for this evening to vote on the proposed CBA extension and return to play agreement. That vote is expected to go smoothly according to Bob McKenzie of TSN, who points out that it is “virtually unheard of” for the governors to go against something put forward by commissioner Gary Bettman. The NHLPA however, which also needs to ratify the agreement for it to come into effect, has been voting since Wednesday evening and will complete the process tonight.

Though there is plenty of positivity around the player vote, McKenzie does point out that this is likely an all-or-nothing situation when it comes to the 2019-20 season. The veteran scribe does not see a way the two sides could immediately go back to the negotiating table or find a way to finish the 2019-20 season if the players were to reject this package. A rejected proposal would also have far-reaching effects on the league, with some sources even indicating to him a substantial drop in the salary cap ceiling for next season without the CBA extension. McKenzie also mentions the dreaded “lockout” term in his explanation of the importance of this vote, something no hockey fan wants to hear at this point. News of the ratification could come as early as tonight.

  • Michael Russo of The Athletic has a few notes about the Minnesota Wild’s front office and coaching structure, including a suggestion that Mike Murray could be joining the organization soon. While Murray has only said he left the AHL to “accept a position with an NHL club” in October, Russo tweets that fans shouldn’t be surprised if that’s Minnesota given his familiarity with Wild GM Bill Guerin. Murray served as the AHL’s vice president of hockey operations.
  • While Murray’s connection seems speculative at this point, Russo goes into far more depth on interim head coach Dean Evason and his future with the organization. In his latest piece for The Athletic, Russo lists Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette, Tim Army, Scott Sandelin, Mike Hastings, and Tony Granato as other potential candidates, but notes that Evanson has “elevated himself” into consideration. The Wild are scheduled to face the Vancouver Canucks in their qualifying round, giving Evason even more opportunity to show what he can do behind the bench.

Islanders Notes: Salary Cap, Free Agents, Ilya Sorokin

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Many teams are facing troubling cap situations over the next two seasons (assuming the CBA passes and the cap freezes at $81.5MM). Count the New York Islanders among the troubled.

Though they don’t have any exorbitant deals, the Islanders have a whole host of contracts in the $3-6MM range. With $71.38MM already committed to their roster for next season, there’s a decent likelihood that GM Lou Lamoriello will have to let all their pending unrestricted free agents walk, per The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. That would mean Matt Martin, Derick Brassard, Tom Kuhnhackl, Andy Greene, and Thomas Greiss all hitting the open market. Then again, with many teams facing this crunch, free agents may face a depressed market, potentially allowing teams to grab some bargain short-term deals.

  • Greiss is probably the biggest on-ice contributor from that group, though if all goes well, Ilya Sorokin could join the club and take on that role. Martin might be the bigger loss in a spiritual sense. Despite a two-year hiatus in Toronto, Martin has spent nine years in New York, and his grinding style of play has made him popular among the locals. He’s also the most likely to return, as the fourth-liner may not command a whole lot in free agency after marking 0.4 point shares this season.
  • The bigger issue, Staples writes, is with the Islanders restricted free agents: namely, Mathew Barzal. Just two years removed from winning the Calder Trophy, Barzal is in line for a hefty raise, even if he settles for a bridge contract. With Ryan Pulock, Devon Toews, and potentially Sorokin (more on this later) also restricted free agents, the Islanders will look to shed a contract or two to free up enough money to keep these central young players in the fold. The team has been resistant to trading Nick Leddy, but his $5.5MM could be rerouted to players more likely to play key roles moving forward. Leddy remains a viable blueliner, and though they’re not likely to return a significant asset for him, New York can get out from under his contract if they need the money. Another former Blackhawk, Andrew Ladd, would be another trade piece, but at 35-years-old and with only 30 games played over the last two seasons, they’re not likely to find a taker for the veteran forward – nor can they get any savings from buying him out. More likely for Ladd, Staples notes, is landing on the long-term injured reserve, which would allow the Islanders to go over the cap by $5.5MM.
  • Even though signing Sorokin now will burn his one year ELC, the Islanders are probably going to do so anyway to get him in the fold, writes Staple in another piece. It will make him a restricted free agent for next season, but the Islanders appear ready to bring him in to start working with their coaches. Since the KHL doesn’t typically allow opt-outs, New York would rather bring him in and have him ready for next season rather than lose him to the KHL for another season.

Notes On The CBA

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Changes made to the newly-extended CBA are trickling in by the day as we await the results of the player vote. The latest update is a change to the performance overage policy. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, those teams who incur a Performance Bonus overage will be able to distribute the penalty evenly across each of the next two seasons. It’s a small consolation for a frozen salary cap line, but it’s a helpful option nonetheless that will enable teams to make a more cohesive plan to get through the next couple of seasons with a salary cap of $81.5MM. More from the CBA…

  • There were a couple of tweaks to arbitration rules, notes The Athletic’s Craig Custance. For starters, once an arbitration hearing begins, a settlement will no longer be allowed. This might push teams and players even harder to reach accords before settling in arbitration. Once there, the play-in rounds for this year’s 24-team playoff will technically count as playoff stats, not part of the regular season. This makes sense since not all teams are taking part.
  • As things currently stand, those unsigned players looking to make the leap to North America – Alexander Romanov, Ilya Sorokin, Kirill Kaprizov, and others – aren’t eligible to participate in 2019-2020 season. They are able to sign, however, and burn one year of their ELC, something the Wild are willing to consider with Kaprizov just to get him playing with his North American teammates, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The key is this: It’s still possible these players would be allowed to participate in Phase 3 training camp, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The Wild, for instance, would burn a year of Kaprizov’s ELC to get him comfortable with his new teammates, but it’s hard to see the value otherwise.

NHL To Change Qualifying Offer Rules

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Bridge contracts have often been back-loaded in the past to ensure a higher starting point for a qualifying offer.  For example, a player making $2.5MM in year one and $3MM in year two would have a qualifying offer of $3MM.

That element was used more liberally last summer with several players taking significantly lower payments up front to crank up the salary in the final year to yield a higher qualifier down the road.  San Jose’s Timo Meier is the most notable of those as he has a $6MM AAV on his four-year deal but a $10MM salary in the final season that becomes the required offer to retain his services (barring an early extension beforehand).

That caught the attention of the league and they are changing the rule as a result.  Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports (subscription required) that the Memorandum of Understanding for the CBA that is currently working its way through the ratification process includes a tweak to the qualifying offer rules.  Instead of being based on the salary in the final year of the contract, it will now be based on the lower of the salary of the final season of the deal or 120% of the AAV.  For Meier’s situation, had his deal been signed under this new policy, his qualifying offer would be $7.2MM (120% of $6MM) instead of $10MM, the final-season salary. However, this does not overwrite the qualifying offer rules on current contracts so for players like Meier, the old rule will still be in place.

It may seem like a small move on the surface but this has the potential to really affect short-term deals being signed off of entry-level contracts.  Given the decreasing escrow percentages in the CBA, players are likely going to show more interest in back-loading deals.  Under the old system, that means even more players with inflated qualifying offers and with the salary cap progression expected to slow for a few years, this had the potential to do some damage to a team’s cap structure down the road.

Now, players will still have the ability to back-load contracts to shield themselves as best as possible in the new escrow structure but teams will have a bit more protection from a salary cap standpoint if 120% of the AAV checks in lower than the salary in the last year.  It also may result in an increase in short-term bridge deals rather than the three-year and four-year pacts some have chosen to sign in recent years as well as without the buffer of the much higher qualifying offer at the end, the temptation to go with those should be lessened.  The change itself is seemingly rather small in nature (from salary to AAV percentage in only some cases) but it could certainly shift how things are done in restricted free agency as soon as this offseason.

New CBA Eliminates Free Agent Interview Period

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Over the past several days, news has been trickling out about some of the new elements of the CBA.  TSN’s Frank Seravalli was the first to report (Twitter link) that there is a big change coming to free agency as the interview period has been removed.  Now, teams won’t legally be permitted to talk to players until the opening of free agency.  While that had previously been speculated to be November 1st, that’s now projected to be October 9th as per the tentative critical dates calendar.  Having said that, that seems likely to be pushed back a little bit as some of the other target dates in there (such as camps opening July 10th) have already been delayed slightly; camps won’t open now until the 13th.

This will once again fundamentally shift the free agent landscape.  The interview window was put in during the last CBA to give teams a chance to speak to players in advance to gauge their interest in joining their franchise.  Of course, that’s not exactly how it played out as in recent years, as deals in principle were reported a couple of days before July 1st with quite a few others getting leaked in the hours leading up to the opening of the market.

With the window not being used properly, the NHL and NHLPA have decided to go back to the old way which is no permissible contact until the market officially opens up.  That will present some challenges as the market will likely go back to being one where teams make offers that expire in a very limited timeframe as they need to know whether or not they have to pivot to alternative options.

Of course, this upcoming UFA period – be it in October or early November – is going to be a rather unique one.  The freezing of the salary cap at $81.5MM is going to handcuff quite a few teams and there were already some that were pegged to be having some cap trouble anyway.  Accordingly, this is likely to deflate the market somewhat and adding that to eliminating any legal contact with free agents beforehand is going to create a very unique marketplace a couple of months from now.

NHL Announces Tentative Key Dates, Notable CBA Changes

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The NHL and NHLPA today released the details on their Memorandum of Understanding regarding the agreed-upon extension of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The memorandum, as detailed by TSN’s Frank Seravalli, reveals a number of potential key dates for the adjusted 2020 postseason and 2020-21 off-season and regular season. The dates are as follows:

July 10 – Beginning of training camp

July 24 – Travel to hub cities

July 25 – Beginning of exhibition games

July 31 – Beginning of qualifying round

Aug. 9 – Beginning of Stanley Cup Playoffs

Aug. 23 – Beginning of Second Round

Sep. 6 – Beginning of Conference Finals

Sep. 20 – Beginning of Stanley Cup Final

Oct. 2 – Last possible day of Stanley Cup Final

Oct. 6 – 2020 NHL Entry Draft

Oct. 9 – Opening of free agency

Nov. 17 – Beginning of training camp for 2020-21 season

Dec. 1 – Beginning of 2020-21 regular season

Not only are these dates of course pending a vote to ratify the CBA extension by the players, but Seravalli also notes that they are subject to change based on logistical delays. This has in fact already occurred, as training camps are listed as opening on Friday, when in reality they will open on Monday, July 13. Regardless, the NHL clearly has a plan to start play within a month and wrap the expanded postseason by early October. This would set the league up to take nearly two months off for the off-season but still begin the next season less than two months later than usual.

Seravalli also noted that there are some proration rules in place with regards to eligibility for player bonuses for this season but that does not extend to trades that were made with conditions for players reaching certain statistical thresholds, such as the James Neal–Milan Lucic trade.  The league will instead allow teams to make arguments and then potentially have it decided by an arbitrator.

Other key CBA notes revealed by Seravalli include:

  • An increase in maximum entry-level contract salaries from the current $925K to $950K from 2022-2024, $975K from 2024 to 2026, and finally $1MM beginning in 2026-27.
  • An increase in the minimum salary from the current $700K to $750K from 2021-2023 and $775K from 2023-2026
  • An agreement that the NHL and NHLPA will discuss abandoning the Return To Play plan if players opting-out on a league-wide or club-wide basis “materially impacts the integrity” of the postseason

Snapshots: NHLPA Executive Board Approves CBA, DEL, LeBlanc, Stutzle

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The NHL and NHLPA have crossed another hurdle to ratifying their CBA extension, the NHLPA announced. The NHL’s Executive Board has approved of the extended CBA and sent it to the NHLPA membership for a vote. The full body of NHL players still needs to cast their ballots, which is expected to take place sometime over the next 48 hours. Only a simple majority is needed to pass, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. As we await the final vote, let’s check-in elsewhere around the NHL…

  • Former Chicago Blackhawks prospect Drew LeBlanc signed a two-year extension to stay with Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, per NHL.com’s Brandon Cain. LeBlanc appeared in two games with the Blackhawks in 2012-2013 and last appeared stateside with the AHL’s Ice Hogs in 2014-2015. He’s carved out a role in Germany over the last five years, scoring exactly 11 goals in the last four. He posted a career-high 49 points last season for Augsburger.
  • Speaking of the DEL, top draft prospect Tim Stutzle put up 34 points (7 goals, 27 assists) for Adler Mannheim last season, a strong enough showing to put him in the running to become the highest-drafted German prospect ever (Leon Draisaitl went number 3 overall to the Oilers in 2014). As a consensus top-5 prospect, Stutzle – who has drawn comparisons to Patrick Kane for his offensive creativity – could go as high as number two to the Los Angeles Kings, who may understand Stutzle’s path better than most, writes The Athletic’s Lisa Dillman.
  • Kings’ assistant coach Marco Sturm took a similar path on his way to the San Jose Sharks in 1997-1998. Sturm ought to be able to help connect the Kings’ to whatever intel they need on Stutzle. Most pundits suggest the Kings’ choice will come down to Stutzle or Quinton Byfield, though Jamie Drysdale could be in the running as well, which Dillman wrote about in-depth here.

 

Timelines For Contracts To Be Signed

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With the CBA being agreed upon in principle, we now have a better idea of when certain contracts will be allowed to be signed again.  Here is an overview of the various timelines and scenarios.

Yesterday, it became official that players that were unsigned as of the shutdown in the schedule will not be allowed to play for the rest of this season, even if they were on a reserve list beforehand.  But there will be a very narrow window where those players will still be allowed to sign contracts for this season.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that if and when the CBA is ratified by the NHLPA, teams will have a 53-hour window running between 11 AM CT of the third day following the ratification of the agreement through 4 PM CST on the fifth day to sign those players to a current-year deal.  Signing bonuses will not be permitted and since no physical payment can be made, those entry-level deals can be structured with a base salary of the league minimum of $700K.  In doing so, the cap hit for any subsequent year will be lowered while the player still gets to his second contract earlier.  CapFriendly adds (via Twitter) that players that sign under this avenue will not accrue a year of professional experience and thus will be classified as 10.2.c players (ineligible for an offer sheet) when their deal expires.

As for players looking to head overseas, Friedman adds in a separate tweet that any player not participating in the resumption of play in August (due to elimination or non-inclusion on the playoff roster) will be eligible to sign a contract in another league seven days after the CBA has been ratified.  Those that opt out of playing next month can also do so but unlike the other players, they will not be eligible to sign an NHL for 2020-21 if they go that route.  For any player who is looking to go overseas but will be playing when games resume, they will be eligible to sign outside of North America two days after their team is eliminated, adds Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston (Twitter link).

Then there are those that will be entering the final year of their contracts and normally would be eligible to sign an extension by this time as we normally would be in the next NHL calendar year by now.  However, the 2020-21 league year likely won’t begin until November now.  However, Friedman reports (via Twitter) that anyone that is about to enter the final year of their contract can sign an extension three days after ratification instead of having to wait until November.  Additionally, players wanting to sign 2020-21 contracts can do so three days after the agreement is finalized as well.

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