Dissecting the NHL Proposal

First off, Happy Holidays to everyone out there. Be safe and enjoy.

Now onto business. The NHL came back with a proposal a few weeks back that was shot down by the NHLPA in about 10 minutes. The NHL used portions of the the NHLPA's proposal to build on their proposal and was very well thought out.

Now, the main points for the NHL proposal that was different from the NHLPA's:

• One time rollback salaries with percentage ranging from 0% to 35%
• No Luxury Tax
  
• Arbitration eliminated from the CBA
• Group III Free Agents age down from 31 to 30
• A different model of revenue sharing
• Extra year on Entry Level contracts, as well as the elimination of performance bonuses

Now, the rollback from the NHL's side looks a little like this: The 349 players making less than $800,000 would not lose any salary. The 191 earning between $800,000 and $1.499 million would take a 15-percent cut. The 58 players earning between $1.5 million and $1.99 million would take a 20-percent decrease. The 133 players making between $2 million and $3.99 million would take a 24 percent cut. The 24 players making between $4 million and $4.99 million would receive a 30-percent cut. The 41 players earning $5 million and up would lose 35 percent.

It seems that the NHLPA's proposal was used against them in some sort. I bet they're happy about all of that.

The one place that the NHL would probably have to move off on is the Group III age. Even though the NHLPA didn't put that into their proposal, I think the NHL would have to get the age down to about 27-28 for it to be taken into good graces by the NHLPA.

The rest of the NHL's proposal could be seen on their CBA website.

Now, as you notice, the NHL did not put any provision of a salary cap, hard or soft on there, but they complete shot down the ludicrous luxury tax that the NHLPA put forth in their proposal. When you break it down, it won't prove to be stable enough for the NHL to keep all 30 teams in good financial condition.

What's left to discuss?? We don't know. No meetings are talked about under at least after Christmas. Even after that, the future for discussions are unknown. What is known is that the NHL will hold a Board of Governors meeting on January 14th, which basically signaled to the NHLPA that this will be the drop-dead date. Rumours have it that the NHLPA is working on a proposal that will branch more off the NHL's proposal and actually help the NHL's cause in the long-run.

For a side-by-side comparsion of the two proposals, just click this hyperlink and see what each side has to say.

This has been ScottyWazz. Take care of yourself and someone else. PEACE!!