An 84-game season is coming to the NHL as part of an extension of the collective bargaining agreement that has been tentatively agreed to by the league and the Players’ Association.
An 84-game seasonis coming to the NHL as part of an extension of the collective bargaining agreement that has been tentatively agreed to by the league and the Players’ Association.
They announced a memorandum of understanding Friday in Los Angeles beforethe first roundof the draft. It still needs to be ratified by the Board of Governors and the full NHLPA membership.
Two games are being added to to the regular season, the maximum length of contracts players can sign is being shortened and a salary cap will be implemented in the playoffs for the first time, two people told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The NHL and NHLPAbegan negotiationsin earnest this spring after agreeing at the4 Nations Face-Offin February to jointly hold aWorld Cup of Hockeyin 2028. Withrevenue breaking recordsannually and the capincreasing exponentiallyin the coming years, Commissioner Gary Bettman and union executive director Marty Walshvoiced optimismabout reaching an agreement quickly. There were no disagreements on a host of major issues like in previous bargaining talks.
“There’s been tremendous growth, and what’s ahead is spectacular on many fronts,” said Toronto’s John Tavares, who’s going into his 17th season. “The predictability of things goes a long way, I think, for everyone in the sport. It’s great to have that partnership and how collaborative it’s been, which has been very different from 2012. It’s great to see and happy that the growth of the game and the sport and the business side of it is all kind of in sync and in synergy and we’re able to kind of continue to build off the many great things over the last few years.”
The extension through 2030 provides the sport extended labor peace since the last lockout in 2012-13, which shortened that season to 48 games. Here is what is changing:
Longer season
Going from 82 to 84 games beginning in 2026-27 — making the season 1,344 total games — is also expected to include a reduction in exhibition play, to four games apiece for the 32 teams.
The additions would be played within divisions, evening out the schedule to ensure four showdowns each season between rivals like Toronto and Boston, Dallas and Colorado and Washington and Pittsburgh. Currently, there is a rotation that has some division opponents facing off only three times a season.
That imbalance is coming to an end, and this is not the first time the NHL has had an 84-game season. The league experimented with that in 1992-93 and ’93-94, when each team added a pair of neutral site games.
Shorter contracts
Since 2013, players have been able to re-sign with their own team for up to eight years and sign with another for up to seven years. Under the new CBA, each would be reduced by a year, to seven for re-signing and six for changing teams.
Top players, given the injury risks in the sport, have preferred the longest contracts possible. The same goes for general managers, eager to keep talent in the fold as long as possible. Nathan MacKinnon, Sebastian Aho,Leon Draisaitl,Juuse Saros, Travis Konecny, Mathew Barzal and, as recently as March,Mikko Rantanenare all among the top players who have signed lucrative eight-year deals.
“I guess that could be a rarity now,” said Trent Frederic, who on Fridaysigned an eight-year contractto remain with the Oilers. “Eight years is better than seven. It’s good to lock in before that changes.”
But with the salary capgetting its biggest increasesseason by season over the next three years, the thinking had already begun to change. Auston Matthewsre-signed for only four yearswith Toronto last summer, and Connor McDavid could also opt for a short-term contract extension with Edmonton.
Playoff cap
Currently, teams with players on long-term injured reserve can exceed the salary cap by roughly the amount of the players’ salaries until the playoffs begin.
Several times over the past decade, Stanley Cup contenders haveused LTIRto activate players at the start of or early in the playoffs after they missed some or all of the regular season.
Florida did so with Matthew Tkachuk before winning thesecond of back-to-back titles, Vegas has done it with Mark Stone on multiple occasions, Tampa Bay with Nikita Kucherov and Chicago with Patrick Kane.
The rule has been criticized as an unfair loophole, a way to stockpile talent and then add even more for the postseason. After he and Carolina were eliminated by the Lightning in 2021, Dougie Hamilton quipped that the Hurricanes “lost to a team that’s $18 million over the cap.”Tampa Bay went back to back, and players wore T-shirts with that saying on it during their Cup celebration.
That will no longer be possible, though it’s not exactly clear how it will work.
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AP NHL:https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press