Sources: NHL, NHLPA Have Set Preliminary Schedule For CBA Talks

The NHL and NHLPA have set out several dates to begin formal bargaining for a new CBA, with the first session expected later this week, sources said. Sources would not reveal when the first bargaining session would take place, but it is expected the NHL and NHLPA will hold most of the meetings late this month and into July, either in N.Y. where the league is headquartered or in Toronto where the the union is based.

The NHLPA is expected to have a negotiating committee of 30 or more players, much larger than in '04-05 when it negotiated the last CBA after a full-season lockout. NHLPA Exec Dir Don Fehr has stressed that he wants a lot of player involvement in labor negotiations. In an e-mail to players in May, Fehr wrote, “All Players are encouraged to attend as many of these bargaining sessions as possible.”