The players prepare to protect their contracts from future labor strife, the Blue Jackets take protective measures with 2024 first-rounder Cayden Lindstrom, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
TSN: Travis Yost believes there are “early signs” that the NHL and NHL Players Association could be preparing for a labor fight when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in September 2026.
Yost cites the slowdown in year-over-year revenue growth from several factors (“Canadian macroeconomics, increased competition in the North American sports landscape, challenges with broadcast rights holders in the United States, and even a de facto forced relocations) following the pandemic created fiscal headwinds that slowed the growth of the salary cap year-over-year.
He believes there will be “a fight of some kind of the apportionment and sharing of hockey-related revenues between the parties.” One way the players are preparing themselves is through contracts containing signing bonuses.
Such contracts can be “lockout proof” because signing bonuses are paid during the offseason. Those bonuses ensure the players receive most of their salary upfront before the regular season begins, preceding any potential labor strife if there isn’t a CBA extension by September 2026.
Yost anticipates more contracts with signing bonuses that carry through the 2026-27 season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The signing bonus tactic as lockout protection started several years ago as players and their agents prepared themselves for the possibility of a disruption to the 2022-23 season when the CBA was projected to expire on Sept. 15, 2022. However, the CBA was extended (with some modifiers) in 2020 because of the pandemic to Sept. 15, 2026.
I agree with Yost’s belief that we’ll see more contracts over the next two years with signing bonuses running through 2026-27. Whether there’s another lockout, however, remains to be seen.
The rise in the salary cap from 2020-21 to 2023-24 was slowed by mutual agreement between the league and the PA. That was because league revenue dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, creating an imbalance in the division of hockey-related revenue resulting in the players paying higher escrow to offset the owners’ losses.
Once the owners were finally “made whole” last season, the salary cap jumped from $83.5 million in 2023-24 to $88 million this season. I’ve heard projections suggesting it could reach $92 million for 2025-26 and $100 million by 2027-28.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently reported NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the relationship between the league and the PA has “never been better than it is.” Friedman noted CBA talks between the two sides haven’t started yet but believes that’s something “not to be concerned about, plenty of time, and there’s zero credible reason for any stoppage.”
A lot can happen over the next two years to derail negotiations and spark another lockout or a player’s strike. Even if the relationship between the league and the PA is currently rosy, it’s still understandable why the players will want some form of lockout insurance for 2026-27 in the form of signing bonuses.
However, it’ll be the star players who’ll benefit the most from signing bonuses. Few in the rank and file will likely get to have that luxury because they’ll lack the leverage to negotiate for them.
THE ATHLETIC: Aaron Portzline reports the Columbus Blue Jackets are being patient with 2024 first-rounder Cayden Lindstrom. The 18-year-old center suffered a back injury (disc herniation) last season and is still working back to full health.
The Blue Jackets expected Lindstrom’s recovery would take time when they drafted him. As a result, they’ve ruled him out of participating in next month’s NHL Prospects Challenge in Buffalo.
“Before we drafted him, we had all the MRIs, all the tests, and everything else from his agents and his doctors,” said Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell. “This is something he’s going to get better from, but we want to be really careful with it. I’ve said all along, we’re going to slow-play this one.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blue Jackets can afford to be patient with Lindstrom. He’s projected to become a power-forward center, which is why he was considered a top-10 prospect entering this year’s draft and why the Jackets selected him with the fourth-overall pick. There’s no reason to rush his recovery or his development.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Former Oilers forward Sam Gagner has received some professional tryout offers and hopes to turn one into an NHL contract for the coming season.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary is dealing with a minor injury that could prevent him from participating in Slovakia’s upcoming Olympic qualifier.
FLAMES NATION: Former Calgary Flames forward Sven Baertschi has joined the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks as an assistant coach. Baertschi spent 10 seasons in the NHL with the Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights from 2011-12 to 2021-22.