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Snapshots: CBA Talks, Cirelli, Smirnov

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The heads of the NHL and NHLPA haven’t spoken directly in almost a week, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic who tweets commissioner Gary Bettman and executive director Donald Fehr last talked on Thursday, November 19. LeBrun notes that the “communication stalemate is noteworthy” because of the near-constant dialogue the two had through the first part of the offseason.

While LeBrun once again tweets his confidence something will finally get done and points at the next week as an important stretch, Darren Dreger of TSN adds that it has been that way for a while now. Many have pointed to the end of November as a key threshold if the NHL still wants a January 1. start, something that looks more and more difficult to accomplish with every passing day. The biggest issue in talks continues to be amending the CBA that was agreed to just a few months ago.

  • After the Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed Mikhail Sergachev this afternoon, LeBrun reached out to the agent for Anthony Cirelli, who remains a restricted free agent without a contract for the 2020-21 season. Pat Morris of Newport Sports told LeBrun that there is “nothing new to report” in Cirelli’s contract talks. With the Lightning now close to $2MM over the salary cap ceiling, contracts for Cirelli and Erik Cernak will be very difficult to fit in without a corresponding move.
  • Denis Smirnov, a sixth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2017, has signed his first professional contract, inking a deal with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL. The Grizzlies signed a trio of players today, including the 23-year-old Smirnov who became an unrestricted free agent when the Avalanche failed to sign him this summer.

 

Some NHL Owners Prefer Not To Play In 2020-21

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While everyone would like to think that all parties involved in the ongoing talks between the NHL and NHLPA want the same thing – a 2020-21 season, preferably as soon as possible – it seems that is not the case. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports that Commissioner Gary Bettman is currently dealing with several “disgruntled” owners who are upset at the league side of the recent CBA extension. Several of these owners allegedly have gone so far as to say that they would prefer not to play this season if the lack of fans results in financial loss.

Without fans in the building, NHL teams are certainly facing down potential losses. Some owners with financial concerns in the short-term are worried about their cashflow in 2020-21 and not content with what the players already gave up in CBA negotiations. The players opted to defer 10% of their 2020-21 salary and agreed to have escrow capped at 20% for the season. However, the league has recently asked players to give up even more in deferred salary as well as escrow, a proposal that was not well-received. Should the players ultimately not agree to any further concessions, it appears that a small group of owners would rather not play this season than pay their players the amount agreed upon in the CBA.

However, Kaplan adds that Bettman will not allow this to happen. The Commissioner has told these individuals that skipping the season is “simply not an option”, citing the long-term harm of a lost year. Bettman will continue to go to bat for the owners, but will not allow a lack of progress in talks to derail the season. Fortunately, it does seem as though the players are willing to negotiate so long as the owners are open to some concessions of their own. If that is not enough for the “disgruntled” owners, it seems Bettman and the players are unified in moving forward regardless.

Snapshots: CBA Talks, Juolevi, QMJHL

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After yesterday’s discussions with the NHL, the NHLPA is not happy. The league asked for further financial concessions in the form of payment deferrals and increased escrow, just a few months after negotiating a new CBA, and things are now a little more heated between the two sides. Both Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have now released columns explaining the situation, using terms like “angry” and “betrayed” when describing how the players feel.

Both insiders finish their columns with messages of hope, however, with the idea that the two sides will eventually come together on a deal for the sake of the sport. But with December coming quickly and players needing time to return to North America, quarantine (in some cases), and prepare for the season, work will have to be done quickly on a new arrangement.

  • One player hoping to get things going so he can continue some of the momentum he built this summer is Olli Juolevi, who Iain MacIntyre profiled yesterday for Sportsnet. Juolevi, the fifth-overall pick in 2016, is finally healthy after years of dealing with various injuries and surgeries. The 22-year-old defenseman made his NHL debut in the bubble when he played one postseason game for the Vancouver Canucks, but certainly has ground to make up to catch some of his draft contemporaries. Several defensemen selected after him have already established themselves as full-time NHL options (if not stars), while the name selected directly after him—Matthew Tkachuk—is arguably the most important player on their division rival Calgary Flames.
  • The Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL have had a staff member test positive for COVID-19, meaning their upcoming games have been postponed and team in-person activities have been suspended. The Cape Breton Eagles, who played the Sea Dogs yesterday, will also have their games postponed until an investigation is complete.

Snapshots: Return To Play Talks, Hertl, RIT

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The NHLPA was back to work on Return To Play negotiations today, this time taking the league’s recent proposals and discussing them internally. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the NHLPA Executive Board, which includes the player rep for each of the 31 NHL teams, met virtually this afternoon for about two-and-a-half hours. No action was taken, but those in attendance discussed the owners’ proposal that players take on an extra 13% of deferred salary in 2020-21 beyond the 10% deferral and 20% escrow already agreed upon in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. LeBrun believes that the NHL’s request was not well-received by the players, but that more discussion is needed. That includes both more internal talk, but also negotiation with the other side to see what concessions the league may make in order to achieve greater salary deferral this year. The one thing both sides have in common is wanting to get the season started as soon as it is feasible to do so, so hopefully terms of the Return to Play can be hammered out sooner rather than later.

  • Once the NHL season is ready to begin, San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl will be ready to go as well. Hertl suffered a season-ending ACL and MCL tear in 2019-20, but tells The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz that he has resumed skating and off-ice training and his knee is “feeling good”. There was some concern that perhaps Hertl would not be ready for the start of the season, depending on when that was, but Hertl states that he has been working out since August and would be playing already if the season had already begun. This is great news for the Sharks, as the team needs as much help as they can get after an extremely disappointing season and Hertl has become one of the club’s core offensive players.
  • Rochester Institute of Technology is also ready for the new season, the NCAA season that is. After initially planning to cancel their 2020-21 season for men’s and women’s hockey, RIT announced that they had reconsidered their position and will play this season. Atlantic Hockey has submitted its own Return to Play plans and proposed schedule and the Tigers are now part of those plans. While RIT does not currently have any drafted NHL prospects, the program has produced talent in the past, highlighted by a top 2020 free agent signing in defenseman Chris Tanev. 

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.

Snapshots: 2021 Schedule, USNTDP, Podell

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The NHL and NHLPA continue to work through plans for the upcoming season but as Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets today, if January 1 is still the target, things will have to be finalized before the end of November. Training camps will need to open partway through December—remember, the seven teams not included in this summer’s playoff format are expected to get an extra week of camp—meaning players will have to soon start returning from around the world to serve out any potential mandated quarantines.

LeBrun also reports that the focus is on a schedule that includes at least 60 regular season games, but would see the Stanley Cup awarded by July 15 at the latest. That would give the league enough time to reset the clock for 2021-22 when the Seattle Kraken are scheduled to come into play, hopefully under a regular NHL schedule. Obviously, there are huge hurdles still to work through, including the idea of pro-rating player salaries given the reduced schedule.

  • The challenging year for NHL scouts continues as Corey Pronman of The Athletic reports that teams will not be allowed to scout U.S. National Team Development Program home games in person for “some time.” That comes after news that a similar restriction has been placed on University of Michigan games through the end of the calendar year. While video scouting has come a long way, teams obviously still would rather have a person in the building seeing these prospects up close throughout the season.
  • The St. Louis Blues have hired Ryan Podell as their new Director of Performance, working on the strength and conditioning of the team’s players. Podell has a long and varied resume including time with the Philadelphia Flyers, Indianapolis Colts, and Portland Trail Blazers. He’ll have to navigate a very different world just like everyone else, working with the Blues athletes while still abiding by the league’s COVID-19 protocols.

Bettman Discusses Regional Hub Cities, Reduced Schedule

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The NHL is still targeting a January start for the upcoming season, but there is still a lot of work to be done between the league and NHLPA. As reported by Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com, Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke today about some of the things still being discussed, including the idea of hubs where teams would enter a city and “play for 10 to 12 days” without any travel, and then return home. Players have been very clear about the fact that they will not agree to a season-long bubble away from their families, and Bettman confirmed that he will not ask them to.

The idea of realignment has also come up extensively around the hockey world in recent weeks, especially in regard to the seven Canadian teams. Bettman confirmed that it was being discussed, though specifically mentioned how it also wouldn’t make much sense to have teams from Florida travel to California either. A “Canadian Division” is getting plenty of headlines, but it seems likely that there will be other geographical realignments as well given the different restrictions throughout the United States.

Of course one of the most important things for the league to decide will be how many games actually get played in the upcoming regular season. Though they have tried to maintain the goal of fitting in 82, there have been obvious doubts that is practical and Bettman himself suggested that the league is contemplating a reduced schedule.

None of what Bettman said today provides any real answers for hockey fans looking forward to next season, but there are hints to what it might look like. Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia also reports that deputy commissioner Bill Daly sent a memo to each NHL team today saying that the league and NHLPA hope to make a recommendation to the board of governors on Thursday on the start date, maintaining that “the objective remains to start as early as January 1.” The memo included that the league is hoping to get back onto a regular calendar for 2021-22.

NHL’s Free Agent Interview Period Could Return

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As if the 2020 off-season wasn’t already going to be strange, what with the October start date and flat salary cap, it also marked a new age in free agency negotiations with the removal of the free agent interview period. Well, it seems this new age may be short-lived. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that the NHL’s general managers have already discussed bringing back the interview period, with 48- and 72-hour periods being considered. Such a reinstatement would need to be approved by the NHLPA as well, as it is a collectively-bargained policy.

The interview period, also known as “legal tampering”, occurs just prior to the new league year beginning and the opening of free agency (which until this year has been July 1). It is a period of time in which teams can contact unrestricted free agents and their representation to discuss potential contract terms before the market officially opens. This policy, agreed upon in the previous CBA, led to a rush of contracts when the market opened, implying that teams and UFA’s had not only discussed contract terms, but agreed in principle. Upset that the interview period was being abused, the two sides eliminated the construct when the new CBA was ratified back in July.

Just a few months later, the teams want it back. This off-season has been much slower than usual, going all the way back to the first day the market opened. Being unable to discuss contract terms has undoubtedly impacted GM’s abilities to read market value and plan accordingly. The result has been a number of notable free agents – including two top-10 and 14 top-50 UFA’s per PHR – remaining unsigned several weeks into free agency.

Especially while dealing with the flat cap, this unpredictable market has helped no one. It is understandable why the teams would like it back and it is safe to assume that the players will agree. The interview period structure could certainly stand to be a bit stricter and perhaps a more limited time frame would also help avoid abuse, but a cold opening to free agency seems unsustainable moving forward.

Negotiation Notes: Ovechkin, Malkin, NHLPA

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When the new league year begins, the Washington Capitals and franchise icon Alex Ovechkin are expected to enter contract talks as soon as possible. Ovechkin is entering the final year of his contract, but can sign an extension as early as October 9. Talks should run smoothly for the superstar and the only team he’s ever played for; TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Ovechkin will once again negotiate the deal by himself. Ovechkin represented himself in contract talks last time around, all the way back in 2008, and landed a whopping 13-year, $124MM contract. Long-time friend and teammate Nicklas Backstrom was also successful negotiating an extension with the Capitals earlier this season. Ovechkin has no reservations about sitting down at the table by himself with GM Brian MacLellan and company to work out what could very well be the final contract of his storied career.

  • Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin is still two years away from free agency, but sources tell The Athletic’s Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe that there is already mutual interest between player and team in an extension. Specifically, the two side are eyeing a three-year term, which would keep Malkin in Pittsburgh through the 2024-25 season, after which he would likely retire. Sidney Crosby’s current contract, a 12-year pact, is also set to expire that off-season. The dynamic duo will be 38 and 37 respectively at that time, so expect a changing of the guard in Pittsburgh to occur that off-season.
  • In more current and pressing negotiations, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the NHLPA is creating a player committee to work with the NHL on the logistics of the 2020-21 season. The two sides are expected to meet after the end of the Stanley Cup Final in the hopes that there can be concrete progress prior to the NHL Draft and the opening of free agency. With the “when” and “how” of the coming season still very much up in the air there is plenty of work for both sides before a suitable plan can be rolled out to the public.

NHL Announces Offseason Training Protocols

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Even if official training camps and exhibition schedules are still not set in stone, the NHL did release some information about how and when teams can start to get together for offseason training. In an agreement between the NHLPA and league, team sites will be opened on October 15. Many of the same protocols from Phase 2 will be in place, including a limit of 12 people on the ice at the same time.

These protocols are just another thing to remember when it comes to prognosticating for the 2020-21 season. Even with several months between the Stanley Cup Finals and opening day, it will not be an offseason like any other. For players arriving in new organizations or young prospects trying to make an impact, access will be limited throughout the fall.

If players and staff do choose to use these facilities, they will be administered regular COVID-19 tests and be forced to adhere to strict protocols to reduce the chance of contraction or spread of the disease.

Announcements of training camp and the regular season schedule are yet to come.

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