OLYMPIC PLAY A KEY POINT IN CBA TALKS

TORONTO, ON -- For the first time in roughly three and a half months, hockey fans across the globe were glued to the NHL and its Draft Lottery, overshadowing negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA over a return to play plan and an extended Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Roughly 24 hours after the NHL Draft Lottery created endless storylines across the League – and if you care to read my lottery recap and top-8 mock draft, go right ahead – word over hub cities and particulars of an extended CBA slowly re-emerged.

As the return to play committee attempts to finalize a decision on two hub cities, with Las Vegas still believed to be a primary hub and either Edmonton or Toronto waiting to hear which one will be the other, multiple sources close to the discussions informed me on Saturday that talks on a new/revised/extended CBA are progressing positively, with one source specifically telling me negotiations are “going in the right direction.”

With the salary cap projected to stay at or just above $81.5 million for the next two-to-three seasons – and that will be agreed upon by both sides – we won’t see a significant climb until the 2023-24 season, when the cap could presumably jump to or above $90 million.

Escrow on player salaries will also be capped and that will run the length of the revised/extended CBA. This is something the players have been fighting for for quiet some time – and some, most recently Artemi Panarin and Ryan Kesler, have voiced their concerns on social media. Next season’s escrow cap is projected to max at 20 percent, and it is expected to lower year-by-year afterwards, spanning the full six-year agreement (two years left on the current deal and four more years added in).

Another item the players have been continuously pushing for is participation in the Winter Olympics, and there is a realistic chance they get it.

According to multiple well-placed sources involved in negotiations on both sides of the table, international play has been a discussion point in CBA talks. In fact, one source expects Olympic play to be part of the new CBA once all the details are ironed out.

Remember, a Memorandum of Understanding is what will be agreed upon in the coming week or so, pending the NHLPA’s full membership vote. Final language of the full CBA will still take several weeks/months to complete, but a significant point such as Olympic play will be in the MOU if the two sides can come to an accord.

And starting with the 2022 winter games in Beijing, China, this source strongly believes NHL players will be skating in those games, as well as the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. For both years, the games are scheduled to take place in February, and likely result in a three-week pause to the NHL schedule.

The NHL is open to the prospect of having its players participate in the Olympics, a league source confirmed, providing appropriate arrangements are made with the International Olympic Committee, such as eating insurance and travel costs and granting the NHL highlights and various marketing rights.

The IOC and the International Ice Hockey Federation met with the NHL in February (when the world seemed normal) on these issues – it is believed they would still be able to alleviate any of the NHL’s concerns.

With the NHL hoping to add the World Cup of Hockey to its regular international schedule, an event split jointly, including revenues, between them and the NHLPA, the likelihood of a 2024 World Cup could also be part of the plan.

The NHL and NHLPA still have a lot of work to do in a very short period of time. The official vote on a return to play plan will include hub cities, testing protocols, travel, scheduling, and more. A new CBA will be part of the RTP vote that is coming this week and will include the NHLPA’s full membership.

For now, the NHL is still planning on starting Phase 3 and open training camps on July 10, though it’s possible that gets pushed a few days.

This next week could be crucial to both the short-term and long-term health of the NHL. Stay tuned.