At its core, the NHL is a business with workers who want to make what they consider fair wages. Part of the league's way of managing potential contract negotiations comes with a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) every so often. However, if this does not meet everyone's standards upon new drafts, the NHL can suffer a lockout, during which players will strike for better deals across the board. Though the last one occurred during the 2012-13 season, the most notorious was the 2004-05 lockout, which canceled the Stanley Cup competition for the first time since 1919, when the influenza epidemic caused a 2-2 tie finish between Seattle and Montreal.
However, reports indicate that players may already be preparing for the next one. The NHL is one of the only major North American sports leagues not to see a full resurgence after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the current CBA expiring at the end of the 2025-26 season, TSN contributor Travis Yost pointed out that contracts extending into the following season have a sharp uptick in signing bonus activity.
Though the current CBA is still a couple of years away from becoming obsolete, it would make sense that savvy players are already looking ahead to try to manage an incoming lockout. Hopefully, whatever issues players and management have come the next contract negotiations will be smoothed over simply and quickly enough for the season to continue as it normally would.
POLL | ||
27 AOUT | 344 ANSWERS NHL players secretly gearing up for another potential lockout Will Gary Bettman see an NHL lockout during the terms of the current CBA? | ||
Yes | 207 | 60.2 % |
No | 137 | 39.8 % |
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