When the NHL moved into Phase 2 of voluntary small-group activities and announced the target date for Phase 3 of formal training camps, it gave fans excitement that hockey could soon be on the horizon. At the very least, progress was being made.
But, in a video conference call on June 11, Blackhawks star winger Patrick Kane pumped the brakes on things and revealed there were many key hurdles for the league and players to overcome before resuming play.
"Nothing has been agreed to yet," Kane said. "There's a long way to go before we reach a certain agreement where we would want to come back and play and feel safe enough and feel like it's the right deal for us to come back."
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The outspoken comments came as a surprise because there weren't many rumblings about the significant challenges going on behind the scenes until that day.
What Kane was referring to was the protocols and safety measures for Phases 3 and 4, what life would be like in the two hub cities, the salary cap transition rules and, oh yeah, a revamped Collective Bargaining Agreement. That's right, for the past month, the NHL and NHL Players' Association were negotiating a new CBA, which had been the root of three lockouts in the past three decades.
But now there will be labor peace for at least the next six years after the two sides agreed to a new deal that will run through the 2025-26 season with an escrow provision that could extend the deal by one year. The previous deal was set to expire at the end of the 2021-22 season.
Here are the key bullet points from the CBA extension:
- The upper limit of the salary cap will be frozen at $81.5 million for 2020-21 and remain there until hockey-related revenue hits $3.3 billion. The ceiling won't increase by more than $1 million until HRR reaches $4.8 million, unless the NHL and NHLPA mutually decide to modify it. Once HRR surpasses $4.8 billion, the cap will increase by more than $1 million per year.
- Twenty percent escrow limit for players in 2020-21; between 14-18 percent (TBD) in 2021-22; a maximum of 10 percent in 2022-23; and a maximum of 6 percent in 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26.
- The players' final paycheck from the 2019-20 season will go to repaying their debt to owners. That number is approximately $140 million.
- NHL players will be allowed to participate in the 2022 Beijing Olympics and 2026 Milan Olympics, pending negotiations with the International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic Committee.
- All no-trade and no-movement clauses will travel with the player in a trade, even if a player is moved before the clause kicks in.
- The minimum salaries will remain at $700,000 for 2020-21, then increase to $750,000 for 2021-22 and 2022-23 and will jump to $775,000 for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26.
- For players on entry-level contracts, the maximum dollar amount of "A" level bonuses will increase from $850,000 to $1 million per year. In addition, the maximum base salaries are increasing from $925,000 to $950,000 in 2022-23 and 2023-24, $975,000 in 2024-25 and 2025-26, and $1 million in 2026-27.
- Unlike in 2013, compliance buyouts to provide cap relief are not part of the agreement.
- There will no longer be a six-day negotiating window for pending unrestricted free agents leading up to the free agency signing period.
The Blackhawks are officially back in the playoffs.
In a joint statement by the NHL and NHL Players' Association announcing the ratification of the Return to Play plan and Collective Bargaining Agreement extension, it was revealed that all player and team stats from the round-robin tournament and qualifying round will be counted towards the 2020 postseason, and that teams participating in a best-of-five series during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers are considered to have made the postseason.
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It's the first postseason berth in three years for the Blackhawks, who made the playoffs nine consecutive seasons from 2009-17 before missing out the past two. That's good news for Chicago, but a shortened regular season comes at a price for some individuals on the roster, although they probably won't lose too much sleep over it.
- Jonathan Toews is one of three active players and only 17 in NHL history to score at least 20 goals in each of his first 12 seasons, and he was on pace to make it 13 but finished the pause with 18. Patrick Kane and Alex Ovechkin are now the only two active players whose streak have reached 13 seasons.
- Patrick Kane was on pace to finish with 98 points but won't get a crack at hitting the 100-point mark for the third time in his career.
- Dominik Kubalik scored his 30th goal in the final game before the season was put on pause to become the sixth rookie in Blackhawks history to reach that number, but he was on pace for 35 and was robbed of an opportunity to tie Jeremy Roenick for third-most on the team's rookie list; only Steve Larmer (43) and Darryl Sutter (40) have scored more than 35.
- After scoring 28 goals his rookie season and 41 his second year, Alex DeBrincat finished the 2019-20 campaign with 18 tallies, falling short of a third straight 20-goal season.
Now for the good news:
- Corey Crawford ranks No. 1 in franchise history with 48 playoff wins. He needs two more to become just the 20th goaltender in NHL history to hit the 50-win mark. Only three other active netminders rank ahead of Crawford: Marc-Andre Fleury (78), Henrik Lundqvist (61) and Tuukka Rask (50).
- Kane ranks fourth in franchise history with 123 postseason points; he needs six more to tie Bobby Hull (129) for third.
- Toews ranks sixth in franchise history with 110 postseason points; he needs one more to tie Steve Larmer (111) for fifth.
- Toews is also three games away from tying Denis Savard (131) for second on the Blackhawks' all-time postseason games played list; only Stan Mikita (155) has appeared in more. Kane ranks fifth at 127, Keith is sixth at 126 and Seabrook is seventh at 123.
- Connor Murphy is FINALLY set to appear in his first postseason contest after going six straight years without one. Only four active players and 10 in NHL history have had a longer drought than Murphy, who's played in 444 regular-season games.
Friday evening, after the NHL and NHLPA agreed on the Return To Play plan and a new collective bargaining agreement, Blackhawks Interim President Danny Wirtz issued a statement on the league's selection of the two hub cities for the 24-team playoff format: Edmonton and Toronto.
Chicago was reportedly a Top 4 finalist for a hub before the cities were narrowed down further.
The statement reads as follows:
The United Center, in partnership with the City of Chicago, received an astounding level of support from local government entities, health officials, hospitality companies, rink staffs and more in our bid to serve as a Hub City for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. We would especially like to express our appreciation for the hard work and cooperation from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, United Center staff, McCormick Place leadership, the Chicago Sports Commission, Choose Chicago and the many other vendors and contractors who were a part of our plan, as well as the National Hockey League for their consideration.
Although we are disappointed the bid wasn’t selected, it was not for lack of effort. The teamwork to build our proposal was a true testament to the city and state’s commitment and creativity and set the bar for other cities to follow.
While the Blackhawks look forward to returning to the ice later this month and competing in the Stanley Cup Qualifying Round in Edmonton, Alberta, the City of Chicago and United Center will always be a hub for hockey in our eyes and we are proud to call Chicago home.
The Blackhawks are scheduled to open a best-of-five play-in series with the Oilers in Edmonton on Aug. 1. Training camps for teams competing in the postseason begin on Monday.
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July 11, 2020 at 07:47AM
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Key bullet points of NHL's new six-year CBA - NBC Sports Chicago
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