What the National Hockey League's CBA extension means for Canada's teams
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The National Hockey League and NHL Players' Association have decided to give labour peace another chance.
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Before the first round of the NHL draft was held Friday night at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, commissioner Gary Bettman and Marty Walsh, the executive director of the union, held a news conference to announce a four-year extension of the collective bargaining agreement.
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The deal needs to be ratified by the NHL's board of governors and the members of the NHLPA. The players will begin voting next week, and the board of governors saw most of the details during a meeting last Wednesday in Los Angeles.
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The current agreement will expire in Sept. 2026. The new deal ensures members of the NHL and the fans that there is no chance of labour uncertainty until 2030. The NHL has had several work stoppages, including the 2004-05 lockout that wiped out the whole season.
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The most recent lockout was in 2012-13.
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'This was a very thorough, constructive and professional process, and I think that bodes very well for the future of the game and the relationship between the players and the league going forward again, while we have an understanding and agreement,' Bettman said on Friday.
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Walsh echoed those sentiments.
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'The process for us now is to take this agreement to the entire membership for ratification; we're going to do that over the next week or so,' Walsh said. 'I'm happy with the process. Hopefully, the players will be happy with the outcome.'
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So, what does this mean for hockey fans in Canada?
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All teams will have to be cap-compliant for the playoffs, which will help even the playing field.
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The cap will rise significantly over the next three seasons, which will make life more challenging for small-market teams in places such as Ottawa and Winnipeg in a league where the salaries are paid in U.S. dollars.
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This year, teams can spend up to $95.5 million US, but in 2026-27, that number will rise to $104 million. It will go up to $113 million in 2027-28.
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If Winnipeg and Ottawa want to spend up to the cap in 2027-29, it will cost the seven clubs north of the border $154 million in Canadian currency, based on the current exchange rate.
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'What we were trying to do was catch up after a number of years of a flat cap, and so we were trying to do that on an orderly basis,' Bettman said of releasing salary projections for three seasons.
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