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Gary Bettman

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: Next Season, Overseas Prospects, Hajek

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Yesterday’s call with the NHL board of governors didn’t result in any sweeping announcements about next season, but insiders around the game have gleaned a bit of information about what was discussed and what is still on the table. Frank Seravalli puts many of those information nuggets into his latest piece for TSN, including the fact that preference now seems to be moving away from hybrid bubbles or “hubs” as commissioner Gary Bettman recently called them, and towards teams playing in their home arenas. Seravalli suggests that regional realignment would be required, but that teams would play a baseball-like series of two or three games to reduce travel.

He also reports that there is “no concept on the table that includes a full-length regular season.” That seemed clear when Bettman publicly spoke about a reduced schedule, something the league was obviously hoping to avoid but is now inevitable. There are no formal proposals on the table yet, but with the January 1 target date getting closer every day, there will need to be a decision at some point in the near future—even if it is just another delay.

  • With the hockey offseason moving at a snail’s pace in November, fans have started to scour overseas boxscores to see how their favorite prospects are doing. Mike Shulman of Sportsnet published a piece today going over many of the most interesting names, including several 2021 draft prospects that are still trying to raise their stock. Among the group of already drafted players is Yaroslav Askarov once again, who continues to turn heads every time he hits the ice. Even Shulman sold him a bit short, without updated statistics from the KHL. Askarov returned to the SKA St. Petersburg crease yesterday after dominating at the Kajala Cup and put on another show, stopping 24 of 25 shots in a huge victory over HC Vityaz. Askarov is now toting a .960 save percentage in five KHL games, allowing only five goals on 125 shots.
  • Speaking of overseas prospects, the New York Rangers will have another one to keep an eye on as Libor Hajek joins HC Kometa Brno on loan for the time being. Hajek was loaned to Brno originally, then switched to Olomouc, but is now apparently heading back to where he started. The 22-year-old has struggled during his time in the NHL over the last two seasons and will need to take another step in his development before the Rangers can really rely on him as a full-time option.

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.

Notes From Gary Bettman’s State Of The Union

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke with reporters via Zoom today as part of his annual State of the Union before the Stanley Cup Final gets underway.  Here are some of the key highlights as relayed by Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press (Twitter thread) unless otherwise indicated.

  • While there is no firm timetable in place, Bettman indicated that he wouldn’t be surprised if the start of next season slips into late December or early January. The early plans were to start at the beginning of December with training camps beginning roughly two months from now but that hasn’t seemed like a probable outcome for a while.
  • Although there has been some speculation about a possible Canadian division next season to reduce the amount of out-of-country travel, Bettman didn’t want to speculate on it but added that they are considering all possibilities at this point.
  • The NHL is a league that greatly relies on gate revenue and Bettman suggests that the league derives at least half of their revenue from that particular stream. If you were curious to know how much of their revenue could be lost by trying to play with no fans for an entire year, that’s what they could stand to lose and why they’d prefer to try to push things back at this point in the hopes of getting at least some fans in.  However, he conceded that they could start the season without fans with an eye on bringing some in gradually as time progresses, per Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston (via Twitter).
  • The expanded playoff format this year that had 24 teams participate is not something that is going to be continued, notes NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link). Bettman stated that “It will take a fair amount of convincing to me at least that we need to make a change” so it appears things will go back to the traditional 16-team format next season.
  • At this time, the focus remains on playing a full 82-game campaign in 2020-21, via Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). While not directly mentioned, many regional television contracts have that number built in with penalties if they play fewer than that many.  That was the case this season and it’s something they’d certainly like to avoid repeating.  It’s worth noting that their broadcast partner in NBC has the rights to the Olympics which are scheduled to start on July 22nd which could represent a target date for the playoffs to be completed.
  • While the end of next season is certainly going to be delayed from its usual time in June, this will not affect the Seattle Kraken’s timeline for their entry into the league for 2021-22.
  • No decision has been made yet on the status of the 2021 Winter Classic which is scheduled to take place in Minnesota, notes Rosen (via Twitter).  While it’s one of their marquee events and could even make for an interesting start point to next season, it would lose a lot of its intrigue if no fans were allowed to be in attendance.

Arizona Coyotes Stripped Of Two Draft Picks

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The Arizona Coyotes have been hammered with a stiff penalty for violating the NHL’s Combine Testing Policy. The team will forfeit their 2020 second-round pick along with their 2021 first-round pick. The sanctions were handed out because the Coyotes violated the policy by conducting physical testing on 2020 draft-eligible players prior to the combine. The team will not face any financial penalties and the staff members involved will not receive individual discipline. Commissioner Gary Bettman released a decision, which included the following explanation:

As for the Club personnel who participated in, or may have contributed to, the Club’s violation of the Policy, I have decided that no discipline shall be imposed on these individuals. While I conclude that certain Club personnel acted in a grossly negligent manner at best, which was conceded by the Club, I ultimately conclude that the record does not establish—to a standard with which I am comfortable—that those individuals engaged in intentional wrongdoing, as opposed to grossly negligent behavior.

The Coyotes already didn’t have their 2020 first-round pick or 2021 third-round because of the Taylor Hall trade or their 2020 third-round pick because of the Carl Soderberg trade. Add those moves to this penalty and the Coyotes won’t be walking up to the podium very often over the next two seasons. For a team that is still trying to build its reputation and market after another recent ownership change, this is brutal news.

Arizona released the following statement in response to the punishment:

We were advised today of the NHL’s ruling regarding the allegations of physical fitness testing of draft prospects and respect the League’s ruling. Under new leadership, we have added thorough internal controls and compliance measures to prevent this type of occurrence from happening again in the future. We will have no further comment.

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.

Snapshots: The Return Of Sports, AHL, Ducks

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Commissioner Gary Bettman will appear with 5 other sports commissioners on tonight’s ESPN special The Return Of Sports, the NHL announced. Also appearing on tonight’s program will be Roger Goodell of the NFL, Adam Silver of the NBA, Rob Manfred of MLB, Cathy Engelbert of the WNBA and Don Garber of MLS. The show should provide a hefty amount of equivocation, but there’s at least the possibility of some interesting insights mixed in, especially as the WNBA has released their return to play and MLB continues the public squabble that stands in the way of their 2020 season.

  • The American Hockey League released their own Return to Play task force today. Leading the charge will be outgoing AHL President and CEO David Andrews. He’ll serve as Chairman of the AHL 2020-221 Strategic Return to Play Task Force. A number of NHL general manages are also serving on the committee. The role of the committee, per the AHL, will be to provide strategic expertise and planning, rather than the execution of the AHL’s return to action.
  • The Anaheim Ducks will not furlough or release any employees at this time, which includes staff at the Honda Center, per Elliott Teaford of the OC Register/Southern California News Group. Those making $75K or more may face a pay cut, but it’s still encouraging to see a team do their best to keep staff employed. The Ducks had previously announced that part-time staff will be paid through the end of the month, but there’s nothing new on that front. The Ducks are done for the year after finishing in 13th in the Western Conference with 67 points. With the playoffs not yet underway, it’s impossible to know when the Ducks will hit the ice next. It’s hard to know right now exactly how next season’s schedule might be impacted by this year’s delay.

 

Snapshots: Sorokin, Phase 3, Future Schedule

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The New York Islanders have been waiting years for goaltending prospect Ilya Sorokin to come to North America, since drafting him in 2014. The KHL star seemed poised to finally cross the pond before the coronavirus put things on hold, and now may be reconsidering his options.

As KHL reporter Gillian Kemmerer translates, the president of CSKA Moscow tweeted today that Sorokin is in “early talks” with the club to return to the KHL. This doesn’t mean Sorokin isn’t coming to the Islanders (take these kinds of statements with a grain of salt), but the NHL’s decision to not allow new contracts for the 2019-20 season, combined with the fact that next season may not start until January 2021 has certainly complicated things for top KHL players. As Kemmerer notes, CSKA admits that Kirill Kaprizov does intend to come to North America.

  • Even though the NHL has released the format for a return to play, there is still a lot of work to be done before teams actually take the ice. Eric Francis of Sportsnet tweets that the talk around hockey circles last night was that the Phase 3 target start date to open training camps will be pushed to August 1st. Commissioner Gary Bettman had explained previously that camps would open no sooner than July 10th, but that may turn out to be quite an optimistic threshold.
  • James Mirtle of The Athletic (subscription required) explains that hockey fans may want to get used to this kind of a summer schedule, as there are conversations happening about keeping an altered league calendar moving forward. There have been rumblings about shifting the season in the past to avoid some of the other top sports, including the NFL.

League Still Not Allowing New Contracts For 2019-20

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When Scott Perunovich agreed to terms on two different contracts with the St. Louis Blues back in March, it led to plenty of confusion around the league. The plan was to have Perunovich sign a contract for 2019-20 if the season returned, allowing him to step right into a spot on the Blues roster for the playoffs. Several other top college and international players agreed to similar structures, hoping to burn the first year of their entry-level contracts before the 2020-21 season began.

Unfortunately, as Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) reported, that made the league furious given that they had put a hold on any contracts for 2019-20. Teams were still holding out hope that the league would change their minds and allow players to sign, but yesterday Gary Bettman and Bill Daly dealt another blow to those hopes.

Daly explained that the league’s position was still that new players are not allowed to sign a contract for 2019-20, even going so far as to call them “ringers.” That means players like Perunovich won’t be seeing action this summer and will have to file their contracts for the 2020-21 season instead.

CapFriendly has even tentatively added them to their database in those spots. Along with Perunovich, this includes Alexander Romanov (MTL), Ian Mitchell (CHI), Grigori Denisenko (FLA), John Leonard (SJS), and Brinson Pasichnuk (SJS) though there are countless others like New York Islanders prospect Ilya Sorokin that have been waiting on word from the league as well.

The question now is how that affects their decisions moving forward, especially for the Russian players. The 2020-21 season is not expected to start on time, with the commissioner even suggesting yesterday that it could kick off with the Winter Classic in early January 2021. That would mean a very long wait for players ineligible to join the playoff festivities this summer, and could lead to some returning to the KHL should it open sooner.

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