The NHL and NHL Players' Association each ratified a four-year extension of the NHL/NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, through the 2025-26 season, the League and union announced Friday.
The sides also ratified plans to resume play Aug. 1 at centralized hubs in Toronto and Edmonton as part of the NHL Return Play Plan.
"Today, the NHL and the NHLPA announced a significant agreement that addresses the uncertainty everyone is dealing with, the framework for the completion of the 2019-20 season, and the foundation for the continued long-term growth of our league," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "I thank NHLPA Executive Director Don Fehr and Special Assistant to the Executive Director Mathieu Schneider, the more than 700 NHL players -- particularly those who worked on our Return to Play Committee -- and the NHL's Board of Governors for coming together under extraordinary circumstances for the good of our game. While we have all worked very hard to try to address the risks of COVID-19, we know that health and safety are and will continue to be our priorities. We know that all of our fans are excited about our return to the ice next month, and that has been our goal since we paused our season on March 12."
The NHL Board of Governors and the NHLPA membership completed their ratification votes on the extension and the protocols for Phases 3 and 4 of the Return to Play Plan on Friday.
"This agreement is a meaningful step forward for the players and owners, and for our game, in a difficult and uncertain time," Fehr said. "This would not have happened but for the enormous contributions that the players made throughout, particularly those who served on the Negotiating and Return to Play Committees, as well as those on the Executive Board. "I also thank Gary Bettman, Bill Daly and the NHL staff for their efforts towards finding solutions to the problems we face. Most importantly, we are pleased to be able to bring NHL hockey back to the fans. We look forward to the NHL's continued growth here in North America and on the world stage."
Training camps can open in the teams' local markets on Monday, which is the start of Phase 3. The 24 teams participating in the Return to Play Plan will travel July 26 to the two hub cities -- 12 Eastern Conference teams to Toronto and 12 Western Conference teams to Edmonton -- where they will begin play Aug. 1 with the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, which is Phase 4.
Play will resume with 16 teams paired in eight best-of-5 series and a round-robin among the top four teams in points percentage in each conference to determine seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The advancing teams will remain in Toronto and Edmonton for the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Edmonton will be the site of the Eastern Conference Final, Western Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final. The conference finals are tentatively set to begin Sept. 8; the Cup Final is scheduled to begin Sept. 22 and will end no later than Oct. 4.
Each of the eight teams eliminated from the qualifiers will have an equal chance (12.5 percent) at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery. That drawing will be held Aug. 10. The 2020 NHL Draft is scheduled for Oct. 9 and 10.
The free agency period this offseason will begin after the NHL Draft and Stanley Cup Final are completed.
The CBA extension ensures labor peace for the NHL teams and players for six seasons following this one. That will enable the League and union to chart long-term plans for an international calendar and events including the Winter Olympics, NHL All-Star Game, NHL Winter Classic and NHL Stadium Series.
The existing CBA, ratified in January 2013, was scheduled to expire Sept. 15, 2022. With this extension, it will expire Sept. 15, 2026.
Highlights of the agreement include:
-- The NHL salary cap will remain at $81.5 million for the 2020-21 season with provisions for it to increase incrementally in the following seasons if hockey-related revenue reaches certain thresholds.
-- Escrow (the percentage withheld from player salaries and placed in an account used to calculate a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue) will be capped at 20 percent for the 2020-21 season, 14-18 percent in 2021-22, 10 percent in 2022-23, and 6 percent in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26.
-- A year will automatically be added to the CBA, through the 2026-27 season and expiring Sept. 16, 2027, if after the 2024-25 season the players' escrow debt exceeds $125 million but is less than $250 million.
-- NHL players will return to Olympic competition at the 2022 Beijing Games and the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, pending agreements being reached with the International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic Committee. NHL players did not participate in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics after competing in the Winter Games in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014.
-- Players will defer 10 percent of their salaries for the 2020-21 season that will be paid out in equal installments over three seasons beginning in 2022-23.
-- The playoff bonus pool will double this season from $16 million to $32 million. The compensation to each player will increase each round.
-- The NHL minimum salary will increase from $700,000 to $750,000 in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and $775,000 in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26.
-- The maximum entry-level salary will increase from $925,000 for 2019, 2020 and 2021 NHL Draft picks to $950,000 for 2022 and 2023 NHL Draft picks, $975,000 for 2024 and 2025 NHL Draft picks, and $1 million for 2026 NHL Draft picks.
The NHL lost games prior to ratifying the past three collective bargaining agreements, including the entire 2004-05 season, and the first three months of 2012-13 and 1994-95 (34 games per team).
The NHL and the NHLPA each declined its option to reopen the existing agreement in September 2019, which would have triggered its expiration on Sept. 15, 2020. The sides instead decided to continue discussions about an extension that began during the 2019 offseason.
Negotiations continued after the NHL paused this season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and have been a part of the process of determining the Return to Play Plan. Those talks culminated Monday with an announcement of an agreement in principle on a memorandum of understanding.
Ottawa Senators defenseman Ron Hainsey, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele, Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares, and Philadelphia Flyers right wing James van Riemsdyk were the players on the Return to Play Committee.
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