Players are not expected to use the Olympics as a bargaining chip in the upcoming CBA talksGETTY IMAGES
It is still a full year before the NHLPA and the NHL have to "decide on whether they intend on re-opening" the current CBA, which expires in September '20, and NHLPA Exec Dir Don Fehr is "not about to make the first move in what could be a long and complicated chess match," according to Michael Traikos of the TORONTO SUN. Fehr said, "The doomsday would be two years away. Even if notice is given in September 2019, the contract doesn’t expire until September 2020. That’s a fairly long time into the future and I’m 70 so a lot can happen between now and then." Fehr added, "There’s some generalized view that the earlier you start the better off you are. That’s a reasonable view and, sometimes, it’s true." Fehr on the current CBA said, "I read that the owners are basically happy with it. But, obviously, the players made significant concessions last time and much bigger concessions the time before. And escrow has not gone away, contrary to what was thought and predicted at the time. There are some really frayed nerves over the Olympics and some other things." Traikos notes the NHLPA is "not about to allow the Olympics to be used as a bargaining chip to extend the current CBA." Fehr: "Is it an important issue for the players? Sure. It would be nice if everything worked out at once. I don’t mean this to sound crass, but you don’t actually want to make your marketing, promotion and business development decisions as secondary to a labour-relations calendar. That’s sort of backwards" (TORONTO SUN, 9/18).
PLAYERS WEIGH IN: Oilers C Connor McDavid said that he "remains optimistic there will not be another work stoppage." McDavid: "Both parties have kind of prepared so long for it. I genuinely believe that both sides want to keep playing. We want to play and the owners want to keep making money." But the AP's Stephen Whyno wrote another "battle is brewing, with revenue, escrow payments and the Olympics among the top issues expected to be on the table." McDavid said, "I know guys want to go to the Olympics, and I know guys don’t like escrow." Blackhawks C Jonathan Toews said, "At the end of each season to be told that they’re going to take back 10 or 12 or 15 or sometimes 20 percent of your contract? I think that’s a kick you-know-where. I don’t agree with that, and I think there’s a lot of things the NHL can do to promote the game and enhance the business side of the game. Their mistakes shouldn’t be coming out of the players’ pockets" (AP, 9/16).
