And breathe. Yes, Vegas Golden Knights fans and fan bases of the 30 other teams in the NHL can relax after the NHLPA decided to not opt-out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.
After weeks of thinking the worse and having horrific flashbacks to previous lockouts, that danger was averted for now after the NHLPA revealed on Monday that they will not opt-out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NHL, meaning that the Vegas Golden Knights can stop worrying about a potential lost season.
The current CBA will now remain in effect throughout 2021-22 and that is outstanding news for the NHL and hockey fans all over the world. The last thing any of us wanted was another lockout or a disrupted season.
We will now have labor peace for at least the next three years and that is incredible good news because, and although the Golden Knights were not around to experience it, all hockey fans remember that lost year in 2004-05 and other lockouts that saw huge chunks of the season fall by the wayside.
NHL owners were the first to decide to stick with the current agreement and now talks will continue over an extension with everyone safe in the knowledge that we will have the pleasure of uninterrupted hockey for three more seasons when the current agreement expires on Sep, 15, 2022.
If the NHLPA had voted to opt-out of the agreement then it would have expired on Sep, 15, 2020 and there would have been a very real danger of a lockout if the two parties couldn’t thrash out a new agreement within a set period of time.
Talks between the players and the owners have said to be productive and positive and, although the players have some concerns when it comes to the escrow, talks over an extension will now continue which means that we can hope we don’t have to worry about the daunting reality of a lockout for years to come.
Don Fehr, Executive Director of the NHLPA gave a statement to nhl.com reiterating his desire to continue to work closely with the NHL in order to eradicate any concerns the players have, while holding out hope that another extension will get signed, sealed and delivered.
"“While players have concerns with the current CBA, we agree with the League that working together to address those concerns is the preferred course of action instead of terminating the agreement following this season. We have been having discussions with the League about an extension of the CBA and expect that those talks will continue.”"
Another positive about the players and the owners agreeing to keep the peace is the fact that the NHL are on the cusp of agreeing a new TV rights deal with their current contract with NBC ending after 2020-21, and any new deal should get a huge bump up from the $200 million that is currently paid to the NHL.
Also, with sports betting across America becoming legal, that will see a flow of new revenue streams injected into the NHL and with no lockout on the horizon now, the league has a chance to elevate the sport to the next level and that is only good for everyone involved. Plus, the more money that comes into the NHL should help the players when it comes to thrashing out the escrow in extension talks, which is the biggest concern from their standpoint at the moment.
So, for now at least we can go into 2019-20 safe in the knowledge that the NHL won’t be ravaged by a lockout for at least three seasons and, judging by this announcement and how positive talks between the players and the owners have been, there is hope that we will go a lot longer than three years without any disruption to the greatest sport on the planet.