3 Reasons to Start Worrying About an NHL Lockout

The NHL is rapidly approaching the Sept. 15 deadline to sign a new collective bargaining agreement.  

Once this date hits, if there is no new negotiated CBA, the NHL will officially be in a lockout. 

The NHL is already anticipating a lockout and has notified organizations that they can schedule events within the next 30 days if no agreement is reached (via hockeybuzz.com). 

If no new CBA is reached, it will be the NHL’s third lockout in less than 20 years.

The 1994-95 season was cut short, and there was no 2004-05 season.

Having another lockout will be detrimental to the growth of the NHL, which has gotten more popular over the past few years, according to recent television ratings.  

An NHL lockout seems to be more of a reality with each passing day.

Players Want Huge Contracts

Signing long-term, high-paying contracts is happening more often in the NHL. This means players that are looking to sign new contracts will be asking for these kinds of deals. 

Players like Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, Brad Richards, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Marian Gaborik and Sidney Crosby have all signed monstrous deals over the past few years. 

Owners are not ready to lock up every player long term for a high salary because of the high risk. If that player gets injured or does not perform well, then the organization is stuck with paying a huge contract. 

Rick DiPietro is a great example. 

He received a 15-year, $67.5 million contract and has only played in only 47 games in the past four seasons.  

Injuries have plagued DiPietro, but sometimes players are just not worth as much money as what general managers thought they were when they signed them. 

Wade Redden is this type of player. 

The New York Rangers gave Redden a massive contract before the 2008-09 season, and his stats completely tanked. He hasn’t played in the NHL for the past two years.  

Putting that much money into a player can hurt a franchise for a long time, which is why owners are not risking giving players long-term contracts. 

Players want these contracts because it provides them with living stability and a guarantee that they will get paid in future years.

CBA Meetings Have Been Slow

After meeting often earlier in the summer, CBA talks have almost come to a halt. 

The NHL and NHLPA seem to be in complete disagreement and are rejecting each other’s offers almost immediately. 

There has only been one face-to-face meeting over the past week between the two sides due to the disagreements.  

Donald Fehr, the executive director of the NHLPA, said that talks have been in a “recess” since Friday.

He and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman have exchanged a few emails, but formal negotiations have been slow.

Although the two sides try to keep talks somewhat confidential, if they are not talking at all, it only means bad news for the NHL.

Not Many Recent Transactions

The free-agent market has died down and, surprisingly, there are a few big-name players still yet to be signed. 

Shane Doan, Daymond Langkow, Kristian Huselius and Petr Sykora are a few of the free agents that are probably waiting to sign once the CBA gets agreed on. 

Them not signing are indications that talks are not going well. Owners and players want to wait to see what they are dealing with before signing new contracts. 

There were 11 signings in August last offseason, and this year there were only six. 

Owners think they will get a larger percentage of profits following the CBA, so if they wait to sign players, they can sign them for less money. 

Doan can be seen as a good example. He has verbally committed to the Phoenix Coyotes, but still has yet to sign a contract. 

This is because Don Maloney and the Coyotes want to wait for CBA talks to be completed before rushing into a contract with their captain.