THUNDER BAY – Sports – There is hope for die hard NHL fans. Team owners have a new proposal that was presented to the National Hockey League Player’s Association. Now the owners say that the ball is in the player’s union’s court.
“In light of media reports this morning, I can confirm that we delivered to the Union a new, comprehensive proposal for a successor CBA late [Thursday] afternoon,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement Friday afternoon. “We are not prepared to discuss the details of our proposal at this time. We are hopeful that once the Union’s staff and negotiating committee have had an opportunity to thoroughly review and consider our new proposal, they will share it with the players. We want to be back on the ice as soon as possible.”
All NHL games have been cancelled until January 14th 2013.
The NHL reports, “While the League appears to have stuck to some of the terms from the offer it submitted to the NHLPA earlier this month — including the proposal for a 10-year CBA with a mutual option to reopen negotiations after eight years — there are numerous reports that the NHL moved on three key issues: contract length, compliance buyouts, and annual-salary variance.
“According to those reports, the NHL is now offering to have contract lengths be capped at a maximum of six years (seven for teams who sign their own free agent provided that player has been on the team for the equivalent of one full season). The League previously proposed a five-year maximum term”.
The new offer also reportedly includes a provision that would allow teams to have the ability for a one-time compliance buyout prior to the start of 2013-14 season. This option was not included in any of the NHL’s previous proposals. Reports say the buyout would not count against the salary cap of the team initiating the buyout, but a portion of the buyout would be factored into the formula that determines the players’ share of hockey-related revenue (HRR).
As of yet, there is no official response from the National Hockey League Players Association.