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NHL Requests Further Salary Deferral From Players In 2020-21

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As the NHL continues to work with the NHLPA’s Return to Play Committee on plans to begin the 2020-21 season, the league has requested more financial concessions from the players. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that the NHL is seeking an additional 13% of salary deferral on 2020-21 player salaries. This is in addition to a 10% deferral and 20% escrow written into the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the 2020-21 season.

The league’s request means that players would see 23% of their salary, post-escrow, deferred to the future in order to help owners with the reality of reduced revenue in another season impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. For those who like equations, that means players would be paid y=.77*(.8x), with x being the player’s total compensation in 2020-21. For those who dislike equations, they would be making about 62% of their salary this season, at least for those whose signing bonuses do not exceed 62% of their total compensation. Brooks writes that he is unsure whether this request is an ultimatum by the league or a starting point for negotiations. It is also unclear if the additional 13% of deferred salary would be treated the same as the initial 10%, which will be paid out to each player in three equal installments in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski adds that league sources have stated that under no circumstances will owners pay their players for a full 82-game season when it seems like a near certainty that the 2020-21 campaign will be considerably shortened. Of course, the existing 10% of salary deferral is already paying players for the equivalent of a 74-game season. An additional 13% of salary deferral would still pay players the equivalent of a 63-game schedule, which seems fair considering the minimum number of games has reportedly been set at 48 by the league while the hope is that it will be closer to 60 games. In either case, players will still receive their salary beyond what they would be paid on a per-game basis.

If deferred salary is still up for negotiation, the two sides need to get moving on hammering out the details. If the league hopes to begin on New Year’s Day, players have just a matter of weeks to return to their NHL cities to quarantine before training camps can open in December. There are still a lot of details to be worked out and the owners’ financial concerns are just one small part.

Fortunately, the two sides have been in communication and it seems the NHL and NHLPA have been in agreement on many goals and possible terms for a return to play. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun adds that the NHLPA’s player representatives on the Return to Play Committee are as follows: David Backes, Darren Helm, David Savard, Justin Faulk, Lars Eller, Sam Gagner, Justin Abdelkader, Ian Cole, Zach Hyman, Ron Hainsey, Claude Giroux, Ryan Dzingel, Andrew Copp, Alex Biega, Chris Kreider, Mark Scheifele. Hopefully this group can work with the league to get NHL hockey back as soon as possible and in a format that is safe and effective for the coming season.

Ivy League Schools Cancel Hockey Season

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While other NCAA hockey conferences have been busy announcing their schedules for the 2020-21 season, delayed and shortened but a season nonetheless, the Ivy League schools have decided to go in a different direction. In a joint announcement between the eight member institutions, the Ivy League announced that they will forego all winter sports this year as a result of the continuing Coronavirus pandemic. While the conference itself does not sponsor hockey, six of its members participate in the the ECAC: Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. All will sit out the season following this decisions.

While this had been a fear of many since the conference canceled all sports in the fall semester, eliminating the possibility of hockey until late December at the earliest, there was hope that with other conferences opting to face the challenge and spare the season that the Ivy League’s would fall in line as well. After all, hockey is the most high-profile sport for those six schools who sponsor the sport at the Division I level. However, they stated that they felt that canceling all winter sports was the best decision “with the health & wellbeing of student-athletes & the greater campus community in mind.”

On an overall NCAA hockey scale, the loss of the Ivy League removes perennial contenders such as Cornell and Harvard from the mix this season. It also leaves the ECAC with just six other active teams; the conference has yet to announce a schedule for the coming season but will have very few options outside of repeated match-ups between their remaining teams.

On an individual basis, the loss of this season will have a major effect on a number of NHL prospect. While some opted not to wait for the Ivy League’s to make this decision – presumptive 2021 first-round pick Matthew Beniers and recent Boston Bruins draft pick Trevor Kuntar are among those who transferred to other schools this summer, while some incoming freshmen deferred, and some upperclassmen turned pro early – many others are left without a collegiate season. They will have to decide if they want to stay at school and perhaps try to find a local junior team to play with or if instead they will search for a landing spot in the USHL or elsewhere. Seniors and even some others could still opt to sign their entry-level contracts as well. The NCAA has granted an extra year of eligibility to all winter athletes, but that means little to those with NHL dreams who are not looking to put off turning pro for an extra year. Fortunately, many of those affected have already begun playing elsewhere or have plans to do so and hopefully all will be able to find a suitable locale for the season. Below is a list of all of the drafted NHL prospects left without a collegiate season in light of the Ivy League’s winter sports cancellation:

Cornell: D Misha Song, Jr. (NYI); F Matt Stienburg, So. (COL)*

Harvard: F Nick Abruzzese, So. (TOR); F John Farinacci, So. (ARI)**; G Mitchell Gibson, So. (WSH); F Alex Laferriere, Fr. (LAK)***; D Henry Thrun, So. (ANA)****; F Austin Wong, So. (WPG)*****

Princeton: F Liam Gorman, So. (PIT)

Yale: F Curtis Hall, Jr. (BOS); D Phil Kemp, Sr. (EDM); D Jack St. Ivany, Jr. (PHI)

*Stienberg is expected to play with the West Kelowna Warriors of the BCHL this season
**Farinacci will play with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL this season
***Laferriere is expected to play with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL this season
****Thrun will play with the Dubuque Fightning Saints of the USHL this season
*****Wong is expected to play with the Fargo Force of the USHL this season

OHL Will Not Allow Body Checking In 2020-21

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Oct 31: Ontario’s Premier, Doug Ford, tweeted this evening that the provincial government is “engaging” with the OHL to create a safe return to play plan, and specifically notes that he would like to see the league return with body checking. “To date no decisions have been made,” says the Premier.

Oct 30: The Ontario Hockey League had already made a major change to their season in response to the continued spread of the Coronavirus pandemic, delaying the start of the 2020-21 campaign until February and announcing a shortened 40-game schedule. Yet, due to another decision influenced by COVID-19, the league will look very different when it does return in a few months. Sportsnet reports that Ontario’s minister of sport, Lisa MacLeod, has announced that body checking will not be permitted in OHL games this season.

Of course, this is not as straightforward as it may seem. While MacLeod stated that she arrived at this decision based on the spread of COVID-19 in the QMJHL and that she felt “removing purposeful physical contact from the game was a necessary step to preventing the spread.” However, many in the media have already asked if this opinion was really backed up by any evidence or the opinion of any experts in the field. The use of the word “purposeful” also suggests that incidental contact will still be allowed. Or will it? Where will the league draw the line and what will the punishment be? There’s also the major issue of jurisdiction in this case. The OHL includes three American teams – two in Michigan and one in Pennsylvania – who do not have to abide by the health ordinances of Ontario. There is still a question as to whether the border will be open at that time to accommodate those clubs, but if they do participate this year, will body checking be allowed in their home games?

With so many questions still to be answered, it is no surprise that TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the decision is not quite official with so many factor still needing to be discussed. Similarly, the OHL’s stance right now is more or less “no comment”, stating “Until such time as we arrive at an agreed upon Return to Play protocol with the Government of Ontario, the League will have no further comment on the matter of body contact.”

If body checking is completely removed from OHL competition this year, it will make the jobs of NHL Draft hopefuls and NHL scouts even more difficult. Without a 2020 postseason and given the shortened 2020-21 regular season, players will have less opportunity to display their talents for scouts ahead of the 2021 Draft. Now, the Ontario government is asking those players to play a completely different style of hockey in what will already be a small sample size. Without intentional contact, it will be immensely difficult to not only evaluate defensive ability, but also to get a frame of reference for offensive ability. Play will be much faster and much more offensive than normal, with defenseman and forecheckers limited in their ability, goalies exposed by a much more open game, and scoring forwards unable to show that they can produce even with opposing contact. The players hurt the most will be those who haven’t already been identified as elite, surefire first-rounders in next year’s draft. Those lucky few have already been seen by scouts, but the dozens of other OHLers who needed the season to prove they have NHL potential have just had their season length slashed and now their game fundamentally changed.

NHL Facing Major Challenges In Planning 2020-21 Season

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The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the “bubble playoffs”, were nothing short of an immense success for the NHL. The venture may have cost the league upwards of $90MM to put on and there were a few complaints after the fact about living conditions and scheduling, but the postseason was an incredible accomplishment for the league and players’ association. In the midst of a global pandemic, the NHL hosted 24 teams in two cities over two months, fielded a workable playoff structure and competitive match-ups that yielded a fair champion, all while receiving zero positive COVID-19 results out of more than 33,000 tests. It was as close to perfect execution as anyone could have expected.

Yet, the issues faced in planning the postseason are exponentially more difficult to tackle in mapping out how the 2020-21 regular season may proceed. As Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly tells The Athletic’s Michael Russo, “it’s going to be a challenge”:

It’s a totally different challenge and requires a whole bunch of different considerations that I think probably, in some respects, are more challenging than the (postseason) return to play plans. You need to gather as much information as you can, you need to take as much time as you can, and you need to make the best decisions you can… We’re in a situation where things are evolving every day. You’re monitoring the evolution of the virus and the searches for answers on the virus. You’re monitoring travel restrictions and how we can move clubs around, if we can move clubs around. And we’re monitoring local restrictions with respect to spectators and fans. You’ve got to stay on top of everything and understand things, and they become a very relevant context for the ultimate decisions you make.

While the league is sticking with their expected start date of on or around January 1st, there are still several hurdles to beginning play and they may still be in place by that point in time. The league undoubtedly hoped and believed that the Coronavirus would have subsided somewhat by this point, but the numbers in North America are still not close to ideal. This all but rules out fans in the stands from the get-go, a tough pill to swallow for a league that relies on gate revenue, and even makes travel a struggle. The U.S.-Canada border is the largest travel issue of all, with no resolution to that closure in sight. The league can’t possibly support all 31 teams playing in just two bubbles again, but there is some thought that there could be several hubs, including one that contains all seven Canadian clubs. However, is even this format feasible for a full season or will the NHL have to shorten another year?

There are many questions the league still has to answer and Daly believes that they have the full support of the owners in figuring out some resolution to make sure the 2020-21 season happens and is as close to normal as possible. Of course, this is not a binary decision for the league though, as Daly acknowledges:

We have to work with the Players’ Association over what a return to play plan looks like for next year. And anything considered, talked about, discussed in the context of that ultimately has to be signed off on by both sides. Everybody has an interest in us having a season and awarding a Cup next year. And everybody will be pulling in the same direction in terms of getting there… The players’ perspective and the Players’ Association’s perspective and their input on whatever plan we ultimately come up with is critical to our ability to be successful.

With so many moving parts, questions without clear answers, and an ever-changing pandemic landscape, there is still nothing firm as to what next season could look like. Planning a full professional sports season right now is a daunting task – the MLB and NFL have had their fair share of issues even without fans in most cases and limited travel – so the NHL will take their time, consult their partners and stakeholders, and try to come up with some format that works. Daly believes they will find a solution, but admits that they are still far from that point:

I’m being honest when I say that there is no likely scenario. In other words, I couldn’t pick one. I could identify 10 to 12 scenarios for you right now and I wouldn’t be able to pick a likely scenario. While we have to make these decisions in a matter of weeks, I couldn’t tell you that we’re leaning any one over any other. It really is going to be a product of a whole bunch of considerations that have yet to materialize.

NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing

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In the penultimate update, the NHL has released a statement on the COVID-19 testing being done in the bubble.  For the ninth straight week, there have been zero positive tests.  Their statement reads as follows:

The NHL completed the ninth week of its Phase 4 Return to Play with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 773 tests administered. Testing was administered on a daily basis to all members of the Clubs’ 52-member travelling parties, including Players, during the period from September 20-26. The NHL has administrated 33,174 tests to Club personnel, including players, since the start of Phase 4 with zero positive tests. The NHL will issue its final update on COVID-19 testing results following the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final. The League will not be providing information on the identity of any individuals or Clubs.

With just a few days left until the championship is awarded, the league seems destined to get through their return to play without experiencing another outbreak, though things can obviously change in an instant.

NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing

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As the NHL has done each Monday in recent weeks, they have released an update on the COVID-19 testing being done in the bubble.  For the eighth straight week, there have been zero positive tests.  Their statement reads as follows:

The NHL completed the eighth week of its Phase 4 Return to Play with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 1,127 tests administered. Testing was administered on a daily basis to all members of the Clubs’ 52-member travelling parties, including Players, during the period from September 13-19. The NHL will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 testing results. The League will not be providing information on the identity of any individuals or Clubs.

There have now been over 32,000 tests administered in the NHL’s bubble, with zero positive results. Now that the Stanley Cup Finals have started, we’re down to just two teams and the weekly testing has decreased dramatically.

With just a few days left until the championship is awarded, the league seems destined to get through their return to play without experiencing another outbreak, though things can obviously change in an instant.

League Notes: NHL Awards, 2020-21, USHL

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While the NHL has already revealed several of their end-of-the-year awards prior to recent playoff games, they will save the remaining awards for one special presentation. The league has announced today that the five remaining awards –  the Hart, Lindsay, Vezina, Norris, and Calder – will be presented virtually in a 30-minute special at 5:30pm CT on Monday, September 21. Since the event is technically being hosted from inside the Edmonton bubble, the awards will also have an “Oilers twist” to them. Wayne Gretzky is set to present the Hart and Calder trophies, with Mark Messier announcing the Lindsay, Grant Fuhr announcing the Vezina, and Paul Coffey announcing the Norris. The winners will then be made available to the media via Zoom for interviews following the awards presentations.

  • As the Stanley Cup Final gets underway in the Edmonton bubble, it is remarkable to look back at hat the NHL has been able to accomplish this postseason in Edmonton and Toronto. However, they face a much more difficult task right around the corner with trying to implement the 2020-21. While the league has held firm on their desire to begin the new season before the end of the calendar year and to play a full 82-game schedule, doubts are starting to creep in about how this can be arranged as COVID-19 continues to be prevalent in North America. Even Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly recently stated that he does not know for sure when and how the league will return to regular season play, though he did that a start date prior to December 1 is more unlikely than not. Speaking with others around the league, The Athletic’s Scott Burnside gets a growing sense of skepticism across all corners of the NHL . While most believe the season will still occur in some form or fashion, his sources believe that a likely start date is not until January at the earliest, which could rule out an 82-game season. Some believe that the league could wait until it is safe for fans to attend games before returning to play, while others believe that early-season schedules could be geographically-influenced to play a more compact schedule and to reduce travel risks. Burnside notes that continued outbreaks of Coronavirus in U.S. cities and the closed border between the U.S. and Canada will make a typical season impossible until they are resolved. In other words, there is still a lot to figure out before teams can return to play for the regular season, so a delayed start beyond what had previously been anticipated is an ever-growing possibility.
  • Two USHL teams have now decided to scrap their seasons altogether in response to the continuing COVID pandemic. The league announced today that the Cedar Rapids Roughriders and Madison Capitols will suspend operations for the 2020-21 season. On top of troubles related to Coronavirus, the Roughriders sustained damage to their arena in a recent storm and are finding it impossible to be prepared for a new season, while the Capitols, who are owned by Minnesota Wild star Ryan Suter, are so overly restricted by local health regulations that they cannot operate this year. The league stated that a dispersal draft will be held to give the teams’ players a new home for the coming season. However, the rights of those players who wish to continue in the USHL beyond this season will revert back to their teams next year.

NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing

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As the NHL has done each Monday in recent weeks, they have released an update on the COVID-19 testing being done in the bubble cities.  For the seventh straight week, there have been zero positive tests.  Their statement reads as follows:

The NHL completed the seventh week of its Phase 3 Return to Play with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 1,357 tests administered. Tesating was administered on a daily basis to all members of the Clubs’ 52-member travelling parties, including Players, during the period from September 6-12. The NHL will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 testing results. The League will not be providing information on the identity of any individuals or Clubs.

There have now been over 30,000 tests administered in the NHL’s bubble, with zero positive results. As teams are eliminated the number of weekly tests decreases and could very well be down to just two teams travelling parties by tomorrow night.

As things stand, the league seems destined to get through their return to play without experiencing another outbreak, though things can obviously change in an instant.

NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing

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As the NHL has done each Monday in recent weeks, they have released an update on the COVID-19 testing being done in the bubble cities.  For the sixth straight week, there have been zero positive tests.  Their statement reads as follows:

The NHL completed the sixth week of its Phase 4 Return to Play with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 2,534 tests administered. Testing was administered on a daily basis to all members of the Clubs’ 52-member travelling parties, including Players, during the period from August 30 through September 5. The NHL will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 testing results. The League will not be providing information on the identity of any individuals or Clubs.

With these results being added to the cumulative total, there have now been over 30,000 tests administered without a positive result.  The number of weekly tests continues to decrease (as expected with fewer teams playing) but with some family members being permitted to join players in Edmonton as the bubble drops to one city from two, they will now be subject to tests as well.

NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing

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In what has become routine, the NHL has issued another update on its COVID-19 testing within the bubble cities of Edmonton and Toronto. Just like the last several weeks, there were zero positive results among the 2,814 tests administered. All members of the remaining team’s 52-member traveling parties were tested daily between August 23-29.

The league has now administered over 27,500 tests inside the bubble with zero positives.

With more and more teams being eliminated from postseason contention, securing the bubble should be even easier moving forward. So far the league has done an exceptional job keeping its players and staff safe and separated, though there is obviously still more work to be done.

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