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NHL, players agree on salary cap, Globe reports
CTV.ca News Staff
The National Hockey League and its players may be one step closer to ending their disagreement, with word they have found common ground on a salary-cap system.
According to a report published on the Globe and Mail website Wednesday night, the NHL and its players' union have agreed to a team-by-team salary floor and cap, based on a percentage of each team's revenue.
Since before the 2004-05 hockey season was officially cancelled in mid-February, the salary cap has stood as the stickiest of the negotiating issues.
Claiming skyrocketing salaries were pushing them towards insolvency, team owners argued that a cap would be the only way to ensure the league was profitable. Players, on the other hand, dismissed the idea of arbitrary caps on their earning potential.
When negotiations fell through earlier this year, the total team salaries owners and players were willing to live with stood at approximately $42.5 million US and $49 million US, respectively.
Under the new reportedly 6-year plan, the Globe reports total team salaries would be capped in the range of $34- to $36 million US, with a floor of $22- to $24-million.
There is also provision for a dollar-for-dollar luxury tax that kicks in when team payrolls exceeds the midway point between the league average floor and cap.
Although the agreement represents a breakthrough -- considering the two sides have been at odds since the players were locked out last September -- there are a number of deal-breaking issues left to sort through, including qualifying contract offers, salary arbitration and free agency.
Nevertheless, an unnamed source told the Globe there is a chance the two sides could come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement before July.
Neither the league's chief negotiator, NHL vice-president Bill Daly, or his NHLPA counterpart, senior director of business affairs Ted Saskin, have yet confirmed or denied the report.
CTV.ca News Staff
The National Hockey League and its players may be one step closer to ending their disagreement, with word they have found common ground on a salary-cap system.
According to a report published on the Globe and Mail website Wednesday night, the NHL and its players' union have agreed to a team-by-team salary floor and cap, based on a percentage of each team's revenue.
Since before the 2004-05 hockey season was officially cancelled in mid-February, the salary cap has stood as the stickiest of the negotiating issues.
Claiming skyrocketing salaries were pushing them towards insolvency, team owners argued that a cap would be the only way to ensure the league was profitable. Players, on the other hand, dismissed the idea of arbitrary caps on their earning potential.
When negotiations fell through earlier this year, the total team salaries owners and players were willing to live with stood at approximately $42.5 million US and $49 million US, respectively.
Under the new reportedly 6-year plan, the Globe reports total team salaries would be capped in the range of $34- to $36 million US, with a floor of $22- to $24-million.
There is also provision for a dollar-for-dollar luxury tax that kicks in when team payrolls exceeds the midway point between the league average floor and cap.
Although the agreement represents a breakthrough -- considering the two sides have been at odds since the players were locked out last September -- there are a number of deal-breaking issues left to sort through, including qualifying contract offers, salary arbitration and free agency.
Nevertheless, an unnamed source told the Globe there is a chance the two sides could come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement before July.
Neither the league's chief negotiator, NHL vice-president Bill Daly, or his NHLPA counterpart, senior director of business affairs Ted Saskin, have yet confirmed or denied the report.
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