Two potential schedules presented to players for 2021 NHL season

Earlier this morning, TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli reported that the National Hockey League has shared draft schedules with the NHLPA on Thursday. While he revealed that aa 56-game season outline was now getting evaluated by both camps, his colleague insider Pierre LeBrun reveals that a 52-game outline is also a possibility. 

However, sources have informed LeBrun that both the league and the Players’ Association preferred the 56-game draft schedule, if time allows. It is well known that the NHL is dealing with a deadline, with many reports hinting that the league will have to get everything done and the Stanley Cup awarded before June 22nd, before the start of the Olympics, presented on NBC. 

The NHL’s current deal with NBC is worth $200 million per season and is set to expire at the end of this upcoming season. 

The current talks and drafts also believe to focus on the 2021 season to get underway on Jan. 15, which could allow teams to get training camps going after the Christmas break. 

For the past weeks, it sounded like the NHL was refusing to stray from its original goal of starting the season on Jan. 1, despite the fact that this projected date is just a month away and the format has yet to be determined. However, this new development sounds like a positive one despite the fact that the start date is getting pushed.  A shortened season of 52 or 56 contests would respect the deadline aforementioned. Teams across the league will need to asset the financial and economic terms of this possible schedule. 

There is no doubt that players and the NHL will need to agree on more than just the schedule and its length. Salaries and escrow have been a huge point of contention during negotiations. The NHL has reportedly asked for players to defer 20% of their salaries while escrow increases to 25%. And this despite the fact that both sides agreed to a new six-year collective bargaining agreement before the league’s return to play over the summer that accounted for the expected financial repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The union agreed to 10% salary deferrals with escrow capping at 20%. That money was agreed to be paid in three equal, interest-free instalments in October 2022, 2023, 2024.

Commissioner Gary Bettman insisted Wednesday that the NHL is “not seeking to renegotiate” the six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement extension that was unanimously ratified by owners in July.

While it has been mentioned that players are weighing options to sue the NHL if it chooses to cancel the 2021 season, they are probably too busy now looking ahead at these two options to get puck dropped and the campaign going! 

We, too, prefer the 56-game outline : more hockey!