Quote
With news that NHL will not be opening up the CBA, the ball has now shifted to the NHLPA's court on whether they want to trigger an opt out clause or not.
The players have a window until September 15th that gives them an option to terminate the agreement, instead of letting it last through September of 2022.
On Wednesday, the NHLPA will meet in Chicago to discuss their approach to the decision and how to tackle escrow, which, to Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is a contentious subject.
"There's obvious incentive for the NHL owners to have (escrow)," Toews said to John Dietz of the Daily Herald this past season. "They get money back, depending on their performance. So now that responsibility falls on the player."
About to enter the fifth year of an eight-year, $84,000,000 extension he signed in July of 2014 with an average annual value of $10.5 million per season, Toews says the owners have done a good job at making the situation reflect poorly on the players.
"I'm no financial expert. "All I see is that I've signed a contract and to me it's not exactly being honored. So I don't care what business you're in -- to me that's kind of ridiculous.
"They've done a good job of making the players look like the greedy ones in the past several lockouts, and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to do it again. To me it's pretty black and white."
A third lockout in the last 15 years seems unlikely, but not completely outlandish given that the two sides lost the entire 2004-05 season and half of the 2012-13 campaign.
Bettman was more optimistic about the outlook, but knows that things may not always be optimal.
"In any CBA, the parties can always identify issues they are unhappy with and would like to see changed," he said. "However, our analysis makes clear that the benefits of continuing to operate under the terms of the current CBA -- while working with the Players' Association to address our respective concerns -- far outweigh the disruptive consequences of terminating it following the upcoming season."
You can read the full article below.
John Dietz
@johndietzdh
Jonathan Toews: "All I see is that I've signed a contract and to me it's not exactly being honored. So I don't care what business you're in -- to me that's kind of ridiculous."
The NHLPA has 2 weeks to decide if it will opt out of the CBA.
My story:https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20190901/escrow-a-big-reason-why-nhl-players-may-opt-out-of-collective-bargaining-agreement …
The NHLPA will hold meetings on the subject on whether they'd like to open up the agreement, which was signed in 2013 and allows for opt-out clause on both sides in the final two years of the deal.
One issue that the players are hoping to find common ground with the owners is over escrow, a percentage of salary that is deducted from their salaries. The money gathered goes into an account until the NHL determines how much is paid out to the owners for their 50/50 revenue split agreements.
It's estimated that players lose roughly 10 percent of their salaries.
next 2 weeks will be interesting, NHLPA is definitely not happy with escrow