David Pollack at the Merc has proven to be one of the best sources of content around Sharks players’ lockout commentary. In a recent column posted yesterday afternoon, Pollack caught up with several Sharks players about the NHL’s most recent CBA proposal. Marleau, Boyle and Clowe all appear to be on the more optimistic side of things, while Brad Stuart just wants someone to tell him the season’s starting.
September 12, 2012; New York, NY, USA; NHLPA executive director Don Fehr speaks during a press conference at the 2012 NHLPA summer player meetings at the Marriott Marquis. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-US PRESSWIRE
TSN.ca listed the basic points in the deal here, and there are a few things to note. The time for a player becoming a UFA has increased. The length of rookie contracts has declined. Both mean players can be paid lower for longer. Both mean that older players will be phased out of the league faster in lieu of younger, cheaper talent. Aside from that, though, this deal looks to be pretty good. There has been a LOT of complaining on message boards that this is just a big PR move by the league, the guys over at Pension Plan Puppets have outlined this here. Really, at it’s base, the NHL is trying to get their revenue share more inline with other leagues, and that makes some sense.
The NHL and NHLPA will meet on Thursday in Toronto to discuss the NHL’s latest proposal in detail. Bob McKenzie at TSN says the offer wasn’t met with a great deal of hope by the NHLPA, but hopefully we’ll have some good news later that day.
~BB
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