Indications are that the NHL and its players association are close to consummating a new bargaining agreement, but both sides Thursday denied a Los Angeles Times report that a deal in principle had been struck.
Talks between the two sides continued Thursday in New York, where league and union officials reconvened Monday after a weekend break in the negotiations designed to end a lockout that began Sept. 16 and led to the cancellation of the 2004-05 NHL season.
In an e-mail Thursday, NHL executive vice president Bill Daly said: “The story is not accurate. The parties have not reached a deal in principle.” Also, NHL vice president Bernadette Mansur said the report is “simply not true,” while NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon labeled it “inaccurate.”
That said, the report wasn’t earthshaking, because it has been known for several weeks the sides had agreed in principle to a salary cap – the primary sticking point – and on other major issues, and were making painstaking progress going through the remainder of a collective bargaining agreement package.
While a tentative agreement was expected to be reached as soon as this week, both sides have been cautious in discussing or even acknowledging the progress, because a deal would have to be approved by the NHL’s board of governors and ratified by the union before it goes into effect. So some of this could come down to semantic quibbling over the definition of an agreement “in principle.”
“We’ve heard they’re still working hard on it, but we haven’t heard anything from the league,” said Avalanche senior vice president Jean Martineau, the team’s spokesman.
Avalanche veteran Steve Konowalchuk said he believes most players have adopted a, “don’t call us until it’s settled” posture.
“I haven’t called lately, but usually we’re updated,” Konowalchuk said. “I suppose if I called, they’d tell me what’s going on, but I figure they’ve got enough going on.”
He said the new CBA is “going to be complicated, because you’re redoing the whole system.”
The Times reported the initial salary cap would be about $37 million in payroll alone, with the figure linked to 54 percent of league revenues, with 15 percent of salaries placed in escrow pending a review of revenues after the season. Other reports have placed the figure higher because the league has included other player costs of slightly more than $2 million a team – such as medical benefits and pension – when outlining the terms of a cap. Also, the Times reported no one player could make more than 20 percent of the team’s payroll, and that the 24 percent salary rollbacks offered by the NHLPA last winter remained part of the package.
Staff writer Adrian Dater contributed to this report.
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
