Poll: Who Do You Least Want To See Win The No. 1 Pick?
If Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly’s face didn’t give it away during Friday night’s NHL Draft Lottery, this result was not what the league was expecting or hoping for. In a season when a decorated Original Six franchise, the Detroit Red Wings, had one of the worst campaigns of all-time and the league’s most downtrodden franchise, the Ottawa Senators, had not one but two high-percentage chances of winning the top pick, the No. 1 overall selection will instead go to a to-be-determined “playoff” team.
With the league expanding the postseason field to 24 teams this season as a result of COVID-19 cutting the regular season short, 16 teams will vie for a chance to move through a “knockout round” onto a more standard version of the NHL playoffs. However, now those same 16 teams, all of whom finished above .500 this season, will also be in the running to win the top overall pick and the right to select a generational talent in forward Alexis Lafreniere. All eight losers of the qualifying round will have even odds in a second running of the lottery and one lucky team will get playoff experience and an elite young player this season. No one is going to be truly happy with the result (apart from the lottery winner and their fans of course) but who would you least like to see win the top overall pick?
The Pittsburgh Penguins might be at the top of many peoples’ lists. The franchise has won three Stanley Cups in the last decade and no one would be surprised to see them win again this year, especially given the fact that they finished the regular season in seventh league-wide in points percentage. The Penguins are the best team slated to play in the knockout round, but if by some chance they lose to the Montreal Canadiens, Lafreniere could potentially join Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and company in a move that could extend the dynasty for years still to come. The thought of the talented young winger playing beside either of those superstars would be daunting to every other team in the league.
Finishing just behind Pittsburgh with the ninth-best points percentage in the league this year were the Carolina Hurricanes. The club has quietly accumulated a deep, talented roster including a number of elite young players. Carolina is set to contend for titles for many years to come, but Lafreniere would make them truly dangerous. Like the Penguins, the Hurricanes simply do not need the best player in the draft. Keep in mind that they were also one of just two teams to vote against the expanded postseason model, making it especially twisted if they were to reap the benefits of this one-off lottery structure. As good as the Hurricanes were at times this season, they are a popular upset pick in the qualifying round against the New York Rangers and could wind up in the lottery.
The New York Islanders finished just outside the top-ten in points percentage this season and have a deep, experienced team. They also play a sound defensive system. While it works to win games, it isn’t the most exciting strategy and could limit the upside of an explosive offensive talent like Lafreniere. On top of that, the Isles don’t even know where they will be playing their home games next season and have suffered from poor attendance in recent years. It doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal landing spot for an exciting top prospect. Fortunately, the Islanders drew a plus matchup against the Florida Panthers and should advance past the knockout round if they can stick to their smothering defensive game.
Given their luck in the draft lottery over the past decade, it’s pretty gross to think about the Edmonton Oilers being in the running for another No. 1 pick. Likely soon to be the home of two MVP’s in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers landing Lafreniere as their fifth first overall pick and ninth top-ten pick since 2010 would really be something. With an improved NHL roster and a strong pipeline of talent, the Oilers are finally starting to be self-sufficient and don’t need Lafreniere like they might have in recent year. However, if the team can’t hold off a poor Chicago Blackhawks club in the knockout round, maybe they do need the pick.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are another team that is chock full of young talent and it would be an embarrassment of riches (and embarrassing for the league) to see them land Lafreniere. While the team would be in prime shape to finally snap their Stanley Cup drought with the addition, the Leafs are already well on their way and will be contenders for years and years to come even without the top pick. Additionally, should Toronto win the lottery, there would certainly be those that would cry foul about the whole situation. The Maple Leafs face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round in one of the more evenly matched of the upcoming series. Toronto is likely the slight favorite, but could just as easily wind up in the lottery.
The current iteration of the Chicago Blackhawks is not good. However, they are also the most dominant franchise of this decade with three Stanley Cups. It’s not east to find many outside of Chicago who have pity for the current Blackhawks given their sustained success of late. With some of those core players still in place and some exciting young pieces starting to build up, the Blackhawks may already be back on the rebound without the assistance of Lafreniere. If they make it a series with the star-studded Oilers, it will be even more evident that they don’t need a top pick to stay relevant. Like the Maple Leafs, some will also be outraged if the Blackhawks win the lottery due to the perceived favoritism shown by the league on a number of occasions in recent years.
If you really want to hear conspiracy theories though, look no further than the possibility of the Montreal Canadiens winding up with No. 1 overall. Yes, the Canadiens have no business in a playoff series and would have been in the standard draft lottery anyway, but there will be plenty who think that it is far too convenient if the Habs win the top pick when a Francophone and Quebec native is the best player on the board. It used to be that Montreal – who don’t forget have more Stanley Cups than any NHL franchise – was able to claim the best French Canadian players in the draft regardless of draft order. If that opportunity should inadvertently occur once again, plenty of people might get upset at the league despite the fact that Montreal technically is the most deserving (read: worst) of the qualifying round teams. The NHL does not want that drama right now and its most decorated club frankly does not need special treatment, perceived or otherwise.
As for the remaining teams, the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks were all better than their records implied this season and already have elite young players, the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes may not have the fan bases to support a young star like Lafreniere, and I’m sure there are reasons to root against the Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, and Minnesota Wild as well. If you can think of a valid reason why the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have one playoff series win in franchise history, don’t deserve a stroke of good luck, that’s fine too.
What do you think? Which team do you absolutely not want to see Lafreniere go to, either because of existing talent or complaints of foul play or for any other reason? The reality is that one of these 16 will end up with the best player on the board, which in many ways is already a loss for the league, but it can get much worse from here.
Snapshots: Dave Andrews Retirement, Hub Elimination, Flames, Gritty
Dave Andrews is serving his final day as President and CEO of the AHL. Congratulations have filtered in throughout the day. Former player and current TV analyst Mike McKenna wrote via Twitter, “…You always had time for the players and considered us in league decisions when possible…then you’d beat us on the tennis court and share a drink after. Enjoy retirement, you’ve earned it!” It’s unfortunate that Andrews has to end his tenure with a season cut short, but it’s a testament to his impact on the game that many people thought first of him when the season was canceled, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. Andrews has served as the President of the AHL since 1994. The longtime executive will remain involved in helping the AHL forge a return-to-play plan. Patrick Williams, AHL beat writer for NHL.com, will be tracking congratulations to Andrews throughout the day. Let’s check-in elsewhere around the hockey world…
- Los Angeles appears to be out of the running for the NHL’s hub cities, tweets TSN’s Bob McKenzie. It’s unclear if this decision was inspired by the recent uptick of coronavirus cases in Los Angeles and California, though it’s safe to assume it was a factor. Vegas, Chicago, Edmonton, and Toronto are the four remaining options to host the NHL’s 2020 postseason.
- There will be a new face in camp as the Calgary Flames prepare for their potential Stanley Cup Qualifier with the 9-seeded Winnipeg Jets. The Flames extended an invitation to prospect Adam Ruzicka, who plans to join the club next week, per The Athletic’s Scott Cruickshank. The 21-year-old Slovak was a fourth-round pick of the Flames in 2017. Ruzicka notched 27 points (10 goals) for the Stockton Heat in 2019-2020.
- In undoubtedly the most important NHL news of the day, Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty has a new look. The notoriously unkempt Philly native received the Queer Eye treatment, per NHL.com. Given the level of global fear amid health concerns and civil unrest, Gritty will perhaps face some criticism for leaning into this public pampering – but with the Queer Eye crew in Philadelphia for their fifth season on Netflix, Gritty found himself nominated for a makeover by none other than his close confidant and mentor, the Philly Phanatic. Luckily, Gritty took the nomination in stride, a testament to his character, given that the 43-year-old Phanatic started dying his hair last year – a rather embarrassing display of public vanity from the Hall of Fame mascot.
NHL Players Concerned About Return To Play
NHL Players might be more concerned about returning to play than they’ve let on, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.
In a series of tweets, Engels shines a light on some of the discussions he has had with players, revealing a dichotomous relationship between players and the possibility of returning to play. On the one hand, players are concerned for their safety and frustrated with the lack of transparency and attention being paid to those details in their discussions with NHLPA representatives.
On the other hand, one player suggests that the culture is such in the NHL that no player will choose to opt-out if given the choice. A few NBA players have made the decision to opt-out of the NBA’s return to play, and four MLB players made the decision not to participate in the 2020 season yesterday, citing health concerns. A culture of toughness and grit permeates the hockeysphere, making it considerably more difficult for a player to simply elect to abstain from play – even amid heightened health concerns.
The player culture makes the NHL’s decision about hub cities all the more imperative. Some confusion has surrounded the presumed decision for Vegas to host one play hub, considering Nevada does not appear to be the most prepared environment in terms of containing coronavirus outbreaks. Cases of COVID-19 have been surging in Nevada, peaking with 1,041 new cases on June 27th.
For the NHL, however, Vegas brings a lot to the table when it comes to providing accommodations for players and staff in their quarantine bubbles. Importantly, the final decision has not yet been made, and the NHL has insisted that the five remaining cities are all still very much under consideration.
15 Players Test Positive For COVID-19 After Reporting To Training Camp
The NHL has released a statement reporting that 15 players tested positive for COVID-19 after reporting to training camp. More than 1,450 total tests were administered to the 250+ players in camp. These tests have all been administered following the start of Phase 2 of the return to play initiative, which began on June 8.
What’s more, 11 additional players have tested positive for coronavirus outside of NHL training camps. All players who tested positive have been quarantined.
It’s hard to know exactly what to make of these test results. It’s not entirely clear right now how many of these players were asymptomatic at the time, nor is it clear if there was any additional spread to staff or families. Assuming the best, a 6% rate of infection wouldn’t threaten the season’s reboot – especially if some portion of these positive tests prove to be asymptomatic. Positive tests are an inevitability, and part of returning to play is recognizing as much.
Latest On Negotiations Between NHL, NHLPA
We’ve been awaiting the announcement for hub cities for almost a week now, and the wait for the NHL’s final decision will continue until tomorrow at the earliest, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. Two hub cities will be chosen from the group of Las Vegas, Edmonton, Toronto, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The decision, however, cannot be made in a vacuum, hence the delay. The NHL and NHLPA are also discussing the logistics of phases 3 and 4 of the return to play initiative, as well as particulars of the CBA, tweets Louis Jean of TVA Sports.
Coming to terms on an extension for the Collective Bargaining Agreement is a particularly daunting task given the short timetable and potential long-term impact of any accord. The escrow cap and revenue sharing are significant fiscal negotiations that could hold up a swift agreement between the league and the players. Some players, such as the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin, have been vocal about needing to fix escrow before players report to camp.
There is some cause for urgency, especially with the impending July 1 date for when teams are supposed to pay out signing bonuses. There’s talk of deferment, but nothing conclusive. As it stands today, over $300MM in bonuses are scheduled to be paid out by Wednesday. There is also the issue of the salary cap, which is likely to remain at $81.5MM for the next two seasons, per McKenzie (Twitter links). These issues are not supplemental. Rather, they are some of the most crucial points of negotiation between league owners and the Players’ Association, and it’s far from a done deal that the two sides can compromise.
Wasserman Acquires Acme World Sports
Wasserman announced the acquisition of Acme World Sports this morning, giving Wasserman hockey one of the largest stables of pro hockey stars in the world, per The Athletic’s Scott Powers. Wasserman now reps close to 75 NHL players.
Wasserman already represents some of the NHL’s brightest young stars, including franchise cornerstones like Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid. But by teaming with Acme World Sports, they’ve broadened their reach and greatly expanded their foothold in Europe, writes Powers. Tuukka Rask, Teuvo Teravainen, Esa Lindell, and Mikko Koskinen are some of the more lucrative contracts secured by Markus Lehto, co-founder of Acme World Sports. His clients now join Wasserman, a global brand with a more comprehensive portfolio. Lehto and much of his team will continue to rep their clients but under the Wasserman umbrella.
Practically speaking, we can expect Wasserman to make continued inroads into NHL representation. With such a broad and diverse stable of NHL stars, the appeal of the agency only grows, and young players looking to make their first agency decision will have to consider Wasserman when given the opportunity.
A look at their client list shows Wasserman’s international aspirations – presumably one of the primary motivations behind this acquisition. Wasserman represents stars across the global sports landscape, from basketball stars like Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Domantas Sabonis, and Derrick Rose, to baseball stars like Giancarlo Stanton, Yu Darvish, and Javier Baez, to soccer stars like Jordan Henderson, John Stones, and Jamie Vardy.
They’ve been active in recent years acquiring agencies like Acme World Sports. These mergers are huge for an agency like Wasserman because they not only remove a competitor from the landscape but in doing so, Wasserman quickly and broadly expands their client base and opens new markets. They also add to their collection of agents, garnering years of experience and industry connections by joining forces with – in this case – Markus Lehto and his team.
In the announcement released on Wasserman’s website, Lehto provides his thinking on the merger, saying, “I am extremely excited about this opportunity to be part of Wasserman’s hockey group. My goal has always been to offer the best possible representation for each individual client. Over the past decade, our clients have had tremendous success and we have had steady and continuous growth with them. During the lengthy and thorough transaction process, Jason, Jeff, Dave and Judd assured all of us that, together and united, the expanded Wasserman Hockey group will provide the best service any player or prospect can ask for.”
Snapshots: CBA, Little, Fossier
Extended labor peace may be at hand, reports ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. Wyshynski has been told by sources that the NHL and NHLPA are closing in on an agreement to extend the collective bargaining agreement. This new deal would also answer questions as to how the losses incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pause will be remedied. The players are expected to vote soon on both the new CBA and the league’s return-to-play proposal, with both requiring a majority vote from all players. Wyshynski writes that some believe that this vote could occur this weekend, but that other believe that is too optimistic. Regardless, the current CBA’s September 2022 expiration date no longer seems to be much of an issue and the new agreement is expected to be six years in length, maintaining labor peace through the 2025-26 season.
- Bryan Little will not be back with the Winnipeg Jets this season, writes Paul Friesen of The Winnipeg Sun. The Jets have stated that Little will not return to action even after the league’s pause comes to an end and the postseason tournament begins. Little has been out since November with a concussion and punctured eardrum suffered from a shot to the head. Concussion symptoms had lingered and Little underwent surgery on his ear in March, so under normal conditions he was unlikely to play again this season. However, any hope that this extended pause in the season would allow him to return for the playoffs has been shot down. The good news is that Little tells Friesen that he is “feeling pretty good” and the veteran Jet should be ready to return for the start of next season.
- The AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs have made a notable splash, signing University of Maine star Mitchell Fossier to a one-year contract. Fossier, 23, was expected to have some NHL interest but apparently will have to do some more work to get to the top level. At Maine this season, Fossier led the team and set a personal best with 42 points in 34 games as the Black Bears pushed for NCAA Tournament inclusion before the season was shut down. Fossier showed ample scoring ability in his four collegiate seasons and should be able to translate that ability to the pros.
One Trade The Blackhawks Would Like To Have Back
After decades of fostering a reputation as one of the NHL’s premiere tortured franchises, the Chicago Blackhawks recast their reputation when Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and company won the Stanley Cup in 2010. In the decade since, there have been two faces to the Chicago franchise: cup contention on the one hand, and salary cap concessions on the other.
Stanley Cup Championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015 put Captain Serious and the Blackhawks in contention for the franchise of the decade. But the core that helped the Hawks to nine consecutive playoff appearances was costly to keep together. The resultant sell-off of quality players became the other trademark of the 2010s-era Blackhawks. Quality rotations players were sent packing in an effort to manage the salary cap: Dustin Byfuglien, Brandon Saad, Andrew Ladd, Brent Sopel, Nick Leddy, Antti Raanta, Robin Lehner, Andrew Shaw, Artem Anisimov, Artemi Panarin, Kris Versteeg, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Patrick Sharp, Teuvo Teravainen, Bryan Bickell, Troy Brouwer, and the beat goes on. Basically, when all these guys get together at the annual meetup for players traded away from the Blackhawks, they require a larger space than the visiting locker room.
Of course, as a group, they’re still pretty well connected in Chicago. A surprising number of the players GM Stan Bowman has traded away have at some point found their way back to Chicago (Saad, Ladd, Versteeg, Shaw, Oduya, etc.). So before Bowman trades for Nick Leddy again, let’s take a look at the deal that sent the defenseman packing.
The deal – reported here by Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune – sent blueliner Nick Leddy (and minor league goalie Kent Simpson) to the New York Islanders after the 2013-2014 season for T.J. Brennan, Ville Pokka, and goaltender Anders Nilsson. Like many of Bowman’s trades post-2010, this one was necessitated by a contract sheet bursting at the seams. Three months prior, Bowman locked Toews and Kane into dueling 10-year deals, and two days after that, the salary cap figure came in from the league for the 2014-2015 season at about $2MM less than expected.
Leddy carried a $2.7MM cap hit at the time with one season before restricted free agency. He would become the first – if much-anticipated – collateral damage of locking their two superstars into long-term deals. He was, by then, a fixture in Chicago, having won the cup in 2013 while serving on the third line of defenders and on the power play for the Hawks. They had to make a move to get under the cap, and with Leddy’s impending restricted free agency, it made a certain amount of sense that he’d be the fall guy.
Assume Bowman figured to move a defender. They could have broken up their second defensive pairing, as both Hjalmarsson and Oduya carried larger cap hits ($4.1MM and $3.375MM, respectively). Both were older than Leddy, considerably so for Oduya (entering his age-32 season). That might have played into Bowman’s thinking, as Oduya wasn’t likely to command as much future salary as Leddy. Hjalmarsson had signed a five-year extension the summer prior, and he routinely put his body on the line to defend the net. He was, if not inner circle in Chicago, then the first guy knocking on the door.
By moving Leddy, Chicago kept their top-two blueline pairings intact. Given Leddy’s youth, there’s an argument to be made that he was the right piece to move because of the value he could return.
That’s where this particular trade falls apart. Goaltender Anders Nilsson signed with Kazan of the KHL the following May, never to play for the Blackhawks. Defender T.J. Brennan barely spent the night in-pocket: Bowman traded him to Toronto a couple of months later for Spencer Abbott. Brennan didn’t accomplish a ton in the league, but he lasted longer than Abbott, who appeared in exactly one game for the Blackhawks. Pokka was the other defender in the deal, and at 26-years-old, he has yet to make an appearance for Chicago, spending the last two seasons in the KHL. Abbott’s 8 minutes and 34 seconds of ice time from January of 2017 – his one shot on goal – make up the entirety of the production received from the Leddy trade.
Granted, Leddy isn’t an all-world defender, but he became a top-pair defender in New York. He can hit the back of the net and bring some punch to the backline, even if his plus/minus scores leave something to be desired. He signed a 7-year, $38.5MM deal that the Blackhawks weren’t likely able to afford – which really puts him on par financially with, say, Brent Seabrook. If keeping Leddy meant trading Seabrook, well, maybe this deal was bound to happen. But again, the real issue with this deal isn’t losing Leddy. It’s that despite the volume return, those pieces added essentially zero long-or-short-term value to the Blackhawks’ roster.
Maybe the deal had to happen to duck the salary cap, and maybe given another chance, Bowman would make the decision to move Leddy again, but one thing is for certain, the Blackhawks would like to have this trade back – even just to try their hand at trading him again. He wouldn’t be the first guy to get traded away from Chicago more than once.
Latest On Hub Cities And NHL’s Decision Not To Quarantine For Training Camps
The NHL and Players’ Association have yet to finalize their return-to-play agreement, but the presumptive deal sets players to arrive in hub cities for competitive play in less than a month. While players will be quarantined during their time in the hubs, they are unrestricted right now, charged with managing their own exposure risk until hub-play begins, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.
With no quarantine for training camps, players carry the hefty responsibility of policing themselves. The plan, more or less, is for players to simply stay home when they’re not skating. Whyno provides a quote from Carolinas Medical Center medical director of infection prevention Katie Passaretti, who adds the proper gravitas to the situation. Said Passaretti:
“You have a whole bunch of people in close proximity to each other for prolonged periods of time, they may be traveling together exposed to other individuals that you don’t know who they’ve been exposed to. Any time you’re bringing groups together and then sending them back out into the world, there’s potential for further spread if one of those individuals was asymptotically infected or early in the stages of symptomatic infection.”
Concern for player safety is well-caused, especially as coronavirus cases rise approaching the July 10 opening date for training camps. Whether defined as the much-anticipated second wave or “hot spots,” the numbers have to be concerning to players and their families. Florida experienced a new single-day high of coronavirus just today with over 8,942 confirmed cases, per Ben Conarck and Daniel Chang of the Miami Herald. Nearly a quarter of Florida’s confirmed have been newly reported in the last week, a disconcerting sign for a state that’s seen more than 3,400 deaths.
Meanwhile, it’s unclear where these health concerns fall in the hierarchy of criteria for selecting hub cities for postseason play. Vancouver Minister of Health Adrian Dix was personally disappointed the NHL couldn’t find its way to British Columbia, per Patrick Johnston of The Province. Dix said, “Vancouver — and anybody who’s paying any attention at all knows this — is the best possible place for them to come. Because we enforce public health rules in British Columbia thoroughly and completely. This is the reason to come.”
Ontario – still in the running – had a record low number of confirmed cases combined with a record-high number of tests, per Rob Ferguson of the Toronto Star. That’s certainly good news, but Ontario is also continuing to let asymptomatic workers return to their offices, tweets Richard Zussman of Global BC. The exact protocols for what happens when a player or staff member does test positive remains at issue in finalizing the hub locations.
Stateside, there were a record number of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (34,500 cases), per Whyno. There’s even some concern that a Nevada strain of the coronavirus is spreading more rapidly than others, per Mary Hynes of the Las Vegas Journal-Review, though there’s still significant debate over the veracity of those claims. With Vegas expected to win one of the hub awards, the conditions in and around the city are surely being tracked closely by NHL officials. According to the New York Times coronavirus tracker, cases in Nevada are on the rise with 483 new cases on Tuesday marking a single-day high.
All in all, there’s clearly a ton of information for the NHL and NHLPA to process – and that’s not likely to change even after the hub locations are finalized. It’s not surprising the announcement was delayed from Monday, the original decision date. Still, with the July 10 training camp date looming and competitive play not much further off, the league is staring down a crucial 24-48 hours of decision-making.
Snapshots: Vancouver, Michigan, CBA
As hinted at by reports earlier today, Vancouver is officially out as a potential hub city for the NHL postseason. Once considered a favorite along side Las Vegas, the British Columbia metropolis nevertheless ended up as an underwhelming option in the eyes of the league. The club released a statement thanking those whose efforts went into Vancouver’s hub city campaign but acknowledging that they are out of the running. This result is believed to have stemmed from the Vancouver group’s inability to have a plan in place for responding to a positive COVID-19 test that would not lead to a stoppage in play. In Vancouver’s stead, Edmonton and Toronto are expected to receive more attention while Los Angeles and Chicago still remain in the running. By all accounts, Las Vegas has already secured its spot and just one city is left to be determined.
- The University of Michigan has announced their 2020-21 recruiting class and, while all of these names have previously been revealed over the past few years, the talent involved warrants a reminder. The Wolverines are bringing in an elite group to Ann Arbor next season, headlined by a pair of potential 2020 first-round picks. Neither Thomas Bordeleau nor Brendan Brisson are guaranteed to be selected on Day One, the American forwards stand a good chance of earning a late-round selection. Fellow forward Philippe Lapointe, son of long-time NHLer Martin Lapointe, is also expected to be drafted at some point this year. Goaltender Erik Portillo has already gone through the draft process and landed at No. 67 to the Buffalo Sabres last year. The Swedish prospect may sit for a year, but will certainly start for Michigan at some point soon. Yet, what might be more exciting for Wolverine fans are not the past or present draft products, but the future. Hulking two-way defenseman Owen Power and super skilled center Kent Johnson round out the recruiting class as two of the top prospects available in the 2021 Draft. Michigan will groom them for a season before one or both very likely get the chance to bolt for the NHL in 2021-22.
- Comments made by New York Rangers superstar Artemi Panarin have brought the escrow issue back to the forefront of NHL labor relations as the league and players’ association continue to work toward a CBA extension. Panarin went so far as to say that players should not report to Phase 3 training camps without a new deal in place that corrects the current escrow crisis. The two side are indeed making progress in CBA talks and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that escrow terms may even be close to complete. Friedman notes relays that a plan is in place that would cap escrow at 20% for the 2020-21 season, but would include a one-season-only 10 per cent salary deferral, protecting owners in the short term while returning money to the players down the road. As part of the agreement though, the salary cap could remain stagnant at the current $81.5MM upper limit for the next three seasons with the potential for it to potentially go up in 2022-23.
- The New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports that these CBA terms could be packaged with the Return to Play Plan in a vote facing every member of the NHLPA. While recent player movement, especially out of Europe, and participation in voluntary activities would indicate that the players are on board with the proposed Return to Play plan, there is no indication of their feeling on the current escrow and salary cap issues and how that might impact the ability for both key policies to receive a majority vote.