MONTREAL – As Marty Walsh, the executive director of the NHLPA, was discussing how the upcoming negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement could unfold Wednesday and evoked the possibility that the players’ union will not necessarily agree with everything the NHL will propose to them, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman put on a faux frown.
And then, with the cameras pointed straight at them, Bettman threw his arm around Walsh.
“As long as he agrees with me on everything I want,” Walsh said, “we’ll be fine!”
And they both laughed.
The context for Bettman and Walsh speaking on the same stage for the first time since the Stanley Cup Final was to jointly announce an agreement to put on a World Cup of Hockey in 2028 and set in motion an era of international hockey where we will see a best-on-best tournament every two years, alternating between the Olympics and the World Cup.
To do that, Bettman pointed out, there would need to be joint confidence that the NHL and NHLPA will be able to coexist that long.
Hence that half hug from Bettman, triggered by the mere suggestion there might be the slightest bit of contention between the two sides.
“I think we are in a good place in terms of our collective bargaining relationship, in terms of our overall relationship,” Bettman said just ahead of the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off. “So I remain more than optimistic that while we have some work to do, we’re going to get to where we’re going, and people will not even notice that we’ve done it.”
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The current CBA does not expire until the end of next season, in 2026, but more than ever, it seems labor peace beyond next season is on the horizon, and both the NHL and NHLPA want to make sure everyone knows it.
“When you look at hockey right now, you think about the excitement that’s happening,” Walsh said. “Last week, the commissioner announced the increased salary cap three years in a row. This week we’re doing 4 Nations, we just talked about the World Cup in 2028, we’re talking about the Olympics.
“There’s a lot of great things happening, and that’s also taken into account to make sure that you keep the momentum moving forward for the game of hockey.”
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On two separate occasions, Bettman noted that formal talks on a new CBA will begin as soon as Walsh tells him he is ready, something Walsh assured will happen shortly. The NHLPA had just completed its fall tour of all 32 NHL teams when preparations for the 4 Nations took over as the main priority. The hope is that once the tournament is complete, those talks can begin.
“We want to start this off on the right foot and we want to get going right away,” Walsh said. “The commissioner has, I wouldn’t say an aggressive timeline, but he would like to get it done sooner than later. I think we all would love to do that.”
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There are a few potential issues that may impact those negotiations that both Bettman and Walsh addressed Wednesday.
The sinking Canadian dollar vs. the rising salary cap
The Canadian dollar was trading at roughly 75 cents compared to the U.S. dollar on Sept. 25, 2024, or just before the beginning of this season. It closed Wednesday at just under 70 cents, roughly a 6.7 percent drop in less than five months.
When the NHL announced salary cap estimates for the next three seasons that will send the cap skyward to an estimated $113.5 million in 2026-27, that drop in the Canadian dollar became a more significant issue, especially for the seven Canadian franchises that make their money in Canadian dollars and pay the players in U.S. dollars.
“I would caution against tales of doom and gloom,” Bettman said. “Our system is designed so that all of our teams can be competitive. It’s all done in U.S. dollars, so the system takes into account the fluctuation in currency between Canada and the United States, and part of the system includes revenue sharing.
“One of the first things I do every morning is look at where the Canadian dollar is, so we’re very mindful of it and it will be addressed as part of the system.”
Yes, about that …
More revenue sharing?
Neither Bettman nor Walsh was too willing to get into specifics about collective bargaining issues, but with the rising cap and the flailing Canadian dollar, they were asked about the possibility of boosting revenue sharing to help the Canadian teams — and lower-revenue clubs — keep up with the rising cap.
“I think the revenue sharing is something we will have to continue to look at, which we always do, to make sure it does what it was intended to do,” Bettman said. “The increases in the cap is really an opportunity to catch back up to the years of a flat cap, and not do it all at once. If we did it all at once, it would just skew everything in a crazy way, and frankly, it wouldn’t be fair to the players who signed contracts in the last few years. So there shouldn’t be any surprise as to where the cap is going.
“And again, it indicates that we have confidence that revenues – north and south of the 49th parallel – are going to continue to grow.”
Walsh preferred to look at a macro way of preventing a need for increased revenue sharing, and the 4 Nations was one example of how that could happen.
“It’s not just about looking at revenue sharing and helping teams that might not be making money, it’s how do we lift teams up?” Walsh said. “I think it’s very important for us collectively, with international hockey and other things we’re doing, to grow the game of hockey. That’s the answer here. It’s not about helping the poor teams, it’s about lifting all boats up.”
(Photo of Marty Walsh, left, and Gary Bettman: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
