The NHL and NHL Players’ Association are on the verge of extending the collective bargaining agreement more than a year before it expires and expanding the regular season to 84 games.
The league and union have been in talks since April and are closing in on a memorandum of understanding addressing a number of high-profile topics long before the current agreement runs out in September 2026. The four-year extension that could be announced as soon as Friday at the draft in Los Angeles would provide extended labor peace in a sport that has had multiple work stoppages, including the 2004-05 lockout that wiped out an entire season.
The league and union closing in on a deal was confirmed Thursday by three people familiar with the negotiations who spoke with The Associated Press on condition on anonymity because the deal had not yet been finalized. It was first reported by Daily Faceoff.
Two of the people said the new CBA will increase the regular season to 84 games from 82, shorten the maximum length of contracts and add a playoff salary cap for the first time. Extending the regular season from a total of 1,312 games to 1,344 would also come with curtailing exhibition play.
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 terms, each would be reduced by a year, to seven for re-signing and six for changing teams.
A salary cap in the postseason would prevent teams from using long-term injured reserve rules to load up their rosters. Currently, teams with players on LTIR can exceed the cap by roughly the amount of the players’ salaries until the playoffs begin. The option has been used, for example, by Chicago (Patrick Kane in 2015), Tampa Bay (Nikita Kucherov in 2021) and the Vegas Golden Knights (Mark Stone in multiple seasons) during their playoff runs.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh foreshadowed a quick conclusion to labor talks speaking at the Stanley Cup Final earlier in June. Bettman said the sides were “in really good shape, having really good discussions,” and Walsh added that talks were “moving forward, and I feel good with where we are.”
A full, new CBA would be the first since 2013. The league and the union have been working on the memorandum negotiated in 2020 to finish that season during the pandemic and would meld that agreement with the framework from 12 years ago.
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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
