CANTLON: HOCKEY OFF-SEASON NEWS & NOTES VOL. 35 PT 1 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings

HARTFORD, CT – The hopes of having professional hockey in the winter and spring of 2021 rest on the Avenue of the Americas, and negotiations between the NHL and NHLPLA as a resolution had been hoped to be reached on Thursday.

The January 1, 2021 starting date that seemed reasonable, a few months ago, seems less likely now when announced, like everything else in the Pandemic Period, has been washed away.

The uptick in COVID cases has made the return to playing in home cities problematic, but players have been clear on one issue, no bubble cities.

The Stanley Cup in Edmonton and Toronto were successful, but a one-off needed to complete the 2019-20 season, crown a Stanley Cup champion, and mitigate their league’s losses from a billion dollars to near $500 million.

Mission accomplished.

The 2020-21 season undoubtedly will be shortened in both the NHL and AHL. However, for the NHL to keep both the TV schedule on time with their US outlet, NBCSN, as they will air the 2020 (2021) Olympics in Tokyo, as well as keep the time frame for the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 on schedule also.

The sticking point at the NHL level is the players will not accept any pro-ration of their contracts, which could be 55.5% based on the latest request by owners to seek a salary cut before agreeing to a 2020-21 schedule.

A long-valued knowledgeable source explained what is going on.

“The players agreed to the cut and gave the first cut down to 72% given the circumstances, but now the owners figure they got one round of cuts, let’s go for two. That is a very unwise move right now. The players have given a lot in escrow now up to 20% up from 11-12%. The players look at a new TV deal coming, in the US and Canada, and expansion money from Seattle. There is a line not to cross. Granted some franchises are on the line, but not everybody has the war chest of Rangers, Flyers, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Bruins, Red Wings, and the Kings.

“Donald Fehr is very good at what he does. I think there will be a negotiated settlement attached to the setting of a season. The players feel (the owners) have already reneged on the new CBA extension and MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). I agree with that view. There are only three schedule scenarios and it’s all date-driven. They will get 80 games in if they start on January 1st. 60 games if they open on January 15th or 18th, and 48 games if the season starts February 5th. The AHL sits and waits and has February 5th on their calendar.”

Contracts have been offered and signed. Payment is expected. We will likely see a massive contract restructuring in which teams will pay part of the salary now and then the account ledger will be adding a new column-deferred compensation, much like the New York Mets infamous Bobby Bonilla contact which saw the team to pay Bonilla until 2035 at $1.19 million a year at 8% interest when Bonilla will be 72 years old. He stopped playing for the Mets in 1999, and last played in MLB in 2001 with St. Louis.

Teams have lost extraordinary levels of revenue. Will they be able to borrow for the future to meet players’ salary costs? Does the current MOU  that extended the CBA to 2026-27 contain language that allows for a deferral of salary arrangements or does an addendum have to be created, agreed to, and ratified?

The NHL is looking for a better TV deal with their current agreement in the US and Canadian set to expire. The hope is to get into the neighborhood of other major professional sports leagues. The problem is, however, networks have also suffered greatly financially from the Covid pandemic too.

The AHL is tethered to the NHL with 20 of the league’s 32 teams owned by their NHL parent team. A February 5th start date is completely contingent on the NHL, and the health guidelines in the 18 AHL cities and three Canadian provinces that house AHL teams.

The development and distribution of a Covid vaccine could be the light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is very problematic.

The Canadian border’s continued closure is also a critical factor in scheduling and conference planning for both leagues and it’s looking more likely than not, that it will be late spring or summer with the border remaining closed.

The Quebec Premier, François Legault, made an announcement this week that sporting facilities will remain closed until January 11th which sidelines both Montreal and their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. If that’s the case, a January 1st start date is a stretch, to say the least. It would surely guarantee an all-Canadian division in the NHL and AHL for 2020-21.

The BC Premier wants to restrict travel to Alberta and Toronto is in a lockdown.

The entire ECHL’s six-team North Division bowed to reality, and have opted to voluntarily suspend operation for the season and return next season 2021-22.

The Rangers Double AA affiliate, the Maine Mariners being one of them, and the Bridgeport affiliate, Worcester Railers another.

Worcester is coached by former Hartford Wolf Pack assistant coach, David Cunniff, the son of the late Hartford and New England Whaler, John Cunniff.

Once Worcester turned their arena, the DCU Center, into a 240-bed makeshift hospital, it sealed the deal. When Worcester went, Maine and Adirondack were losing an important scheduling piece.

The Brampton (Ontario) Beast and Newfoundland (St. John’s) Growlers are in Canada and are still prohibited from crossing the border, so with the rest of the division gone, Reading had no choice.

This decision to close a division leaves the ECHL with 18 teams operating in 2020-21.

Hartford GM Chris Drury and his staff will have to keep their Rolodexes open when the AHL season starts for injury depth players.

One possible solution would be for the AHL to allow the teams that lost their ECHL affiliate to carry an expanded roster.