The majority of hockey enthusiasts throughout the World were hoping for the season to reconvene at some point. Talks throughout the league continued to ensue weekly, with the NHLPA and NHL working together, hand-in-hand to see that this happens. The NHLPA BOG voted yes to a 24 team playoff format, that consists of the top 4 teams in each conference to play a best of five series against each other for seeding purposes, followed by the 8 extra teams (Making 24 teams total) would also play a best of five series with the winners of course advancing to a 16 team play-in playoffs.
To make matters clear folks hockey will be back, with the two hub cities being Edmonton and Toronto for this upcoming playoffs. It only makes sense to have two Canadian Hub cities, as the United States continues to see surging Covid-19 cases. The Health and Safety of all parties involved are the most important thing here. Here are some of the highlights from the unapproved CBA (They continue to make good progress):
Cap
Most people would like to know what the new cap will look like. Well, I’m happy to say that AMNESTY Buyouts (Compliance buyouts) weren’t part of the negotiation process, fortunately Flyers fans (The Flyers are in a good spot farm wise). The Cap will remain at $81.5 million next season and most likely for the 2021-22 season, until the league generates $4.8 billion of revenue. The cap for the 2022-23 season will be based off the 2020-21 revenue. Somewhere between 14-18 per cent in 2021-22, depending on 2020-21 revenue. Then we go 10 per cent in 2022-23, with a maximum of six per cent over the remaining term (if there is an extra year, the escrow cap will be at nine per cent). There will be a 10 per cent salary deferral next season. It will be repaid during the final three years of this CBA.
Olympic Partipation
Finally, NHL players will be able to compete for their home countries once again for the Winter Olympics in 2022 and 2026. This was highly debated in 2018 when many hockey players wanted to play for their home countries in the Olympics. Most notably Alexander Ovechkin and Jakub Voracek were two vocal players about such. This could have been thrown into the negotiation process, as the players had more leverage with this new contract.
Changes/Modifications
No Move-No Trade Clauses now travel with a player with a player if they agree to the trade (Lifting the Clause), to include if one hasn’t started yet.
“Players aged 35 and over can sign multi-year deals that are flat or ascending and there will be no cap hit if they retire before the deal is up (previously, the cap hit stayed no matter what).”- Elliotte Friedman
“Year-by-year variability: six-year contracts that are front-loaded and worth at least 7.5 per cent of the cap cannot exceed 35 per cent between the highest and lowest salary amounts. Rules for other contracts remain the same (I’ve heard players and teams will consider back-loading new contracts because escrow is capped at a lower number and cash flow should improve for clubs).”- Elliotte Friedman
Phase 3/Phase 4 Rules and Protocols
Any player has the right to not play without penalty. Everyone that agrees to play will be tested before they travel to the hub city. Testing will take place on a daily basis from then on, as outlined by Bill Daly in a Zoom Call in early May. Each team will have a set time each day depending on their schedule.
Face coverings of course will be mandatory at all times outside of their hotel rooms, and practice social distancing. There will also be restrictions on the number of people allowed in the lobby and on elevators. Also, there will be one room per player.
Per Elliotte Friedman, “There will be rules if someone needs to leave for an emergency, in terms of if re-entry will be allowed and the conditions for that.”
Critical Dates/Transitions
Phase 3 (Training Camp) will open on July 13, with a transitional date to be moved to the hub cities by July 26 (As if right now). Again the two hub cities are Edmonton and Toronto, and it is yet to be determined which conference is playing in what city.
Current NHL contracts are set to expire on October 31, 2020. This means that free agency will begin November 1, 2020. It’s not an ideal month for free agency to begin, but that’s the cards the NHL were dealt to finish the season.
The NHL and NHLPA got it right. The 24 NHL team format will include a best of 5 series for Qualifying rounds (Only), and the Round Robin (Top 4 teams in the Conferences) will be a one game playoff. All four rounds of the Playoffs (Play-In) will be best of 7’s, with reseeding after each round, highest seed vs lowest seed in each conference. I just want to add that the Flyers can move up from the 4th seed to the first seed in the Eastern Conference.
What this means for the Flyers
The greatest sport on Earth is reconvening, and the Flyers could regain the top seed in the Eastern Conference if they win the round robin tournament. They could play in either Edmonton or Toronto that is still up in the air at this point. One conversation had them playing in Edmonton, and things changed yesterday. This is a wait and see.
Most Flyers fans say drop the puck now, while others are still worried about the overall health of the athletes, trainers, media personnel, broadcasters, and other personnel, as well. I can say that testing will increase in Phase 3 (From twice a week in Phase 2), and in Phase 4 the players and staff alike will be tested before they leave the hotels daily.
Hockey is almost back folks, Letttttts gooooo Flyers, “We want the cup, We want the Cup.” Let’s go Flyers duh-duh-da-da-duh
