NHL and NHLPA reach a tenative agreement

[Hammer]

I know we have some serious hockey fans on Intercot-

NEW YORK -- A tentative agreement has been reached between the NHL and the players' association.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr stood side by side in the early hours of Sunday morning to announce there was a framework in place for a new collective bargaining agreement.

Although the deal still requires language clarification, legal fine-tuning and ratification from both sides, a verbal agreement has been reached on the major points.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Bettman said, "but it's good to be at this point."

The deal still requires majority approval from both the board of governors -- likely Wednesday, a source told ESPN -- and the NHLPA membership before it can become official.


The tentative agreement is a 10-year deal with a mutual opt-out clause after eight years and includes contract term limits at seven years (eight years for a team to re-sign its own players), a source confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com.

"I am happy deal has been reached and excited to get back to playing hockey," Penguins star Sidney Crosby said in an email.


For the first year, the salary cap is $60 million but teams can spend up to $70.2 million in the transition period, while the floor is $44 million.

Sources said the 2013-14 salary cap, a very divisive issue, will be $64.3 million, while the floor will remain at $44 million.

Contract salary variance is capped at 35 percent from year to year, with the provision that the last year can't vary more than 50 percent from the highest-salaried year, a source told ESPN.com.

Revenue sharing will spread $200 million, with a $60 million NHLPA-initiated growth fund included.

The NHL had hoped to change the opening of free agency to July 10, but the players stood firm and it will remain July 1, although it will start later this year due to the delayed season. The trade deadline has not been finalized yet, but the league at this point is suggesting April 5, a source told ESPN.


Olympic participation will not be part of this agreement; the two parties will work on a side agreement regarding the Olympics and possibly the World Cup of Hockey.

Veteran forward Shane Doan said the players knew it would be concessionary bargaining from the beginning, but was satisfied with the terms agreed upon.

"You knew you were in that position, and I think as a union we got the best deal we could possibly get, and you're happy," he said. "You're just excited to play hockey again and do what you really enjoy and have a passion for."

Word of the agreement came after the two sides hashed out their remaining differences for more than 16 hours at a hotel in midtown Manhattan. It was the lengthiest negotiating session and latest night of a lockout that has lasted 113 days -- almost four months.

George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, issued a statement congratulating the NHL and NHLPA.

"The negotiated agreement represents the successful culmination of a long and difficult road in which the parties ultimately were able to reach mutually acceptable solutions to a wide variety of contentious subjects of bargaining," he said.

Bettman did not have details on a timeline for ratification or a potential schedule for the opening of the regular season. It is believed the sides are aiming for either a 48- or 50-game season depending on how quickly things get done. Sources told ESPN.com that a 50-game season would start Jan. 15, while a 48-game season would start Jan. 19.

Fehr said he hoped the next steps could be accomplished "fairly rapidly" and with "dispatch."

"We'll get back to what we used to call business as usual just as fast as we can," he said.

Both sides are committed to playing as many games as possible, even if it requires starting the season midweek, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

The 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs are expected to stretch into the end of June to account for the delayed start and compressed season.

[CanadianWDWFan]

They lost me as a fan when the lockout was announced. I bleed Blue and White (Maple Leafs) but I am fed up with both Bettman and Fehr. These two have got to go before I will ever watch another NHL game.

I have found Junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals of the OHL (Ontario Hockey League), some folks might remember a couple of General alumni Bobby Orr and John Tavares. Where else can you go to watch where the heart of the game is evident and spend only $15 for rink side seats.

NHL has become a joke and needs to be remade.

[barnaby]

I have found Junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals of the OHL (Ontario Hockey League), some folks might remember a couple of General alumni Bobby Orr and John Tavares.

Tavares the lax player?

You're lucky, you have a great Jr league in your area to watch. I live in South Jersey. Only game in town is the Flyers.

[CanadianWDWFan]

Tavares the lax player?

You're lucky, you have a great Jr league in your area to watch. I live in South Jersey. Only game in town is the Flyers.

Sorry I was just putting Tavares' name out there!

I do sympathize with you, first with no Jr hockey and second with the Flyers.

[Zippy 1]

There is always AHL and ECHL hockey on the east coast. We are season ticket holders to the Colorado Eagles of the ECHL. When I lived in Rochester N.Y. we had season tickets for the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Lots of options for hockey beside NHL. College ain't bad these days either.