(Arlington, Va.) Slowly but surely, the current collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its players is coming to an end. And even though there are only two seasons left on the contract that has been in place since 2012, the CEO of the NHL players association isn’t worried about a potential dispute with the league in 2026.
An analysis published last week by TSN raised an uninspiring hypothesis: that of a lockout that could affect the 2026-2027 season, the first following the expiry of the current collective agreement. The “canary in the mine” identified by journalist Travis Yost: signing bonuses.
Read TSN’s analysis (in English)
By scrutinizing all long-term contracts signed from 1er January to August 26, 2024, Yost found that these contained significantly more signing bonuses for the 2026-27 season than for the previous two and the next – both in proportion to the total agreements and in absolute value. Signing bonuses being guaranteed amounts, paid on January 1er July of each year, they assure players that they will receive a large portion of their salary in the event of a lockout.
So is there any concern on the players’ side as 2026 approaches? “Not at all!” Marty Walsh, executive director of the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA), quickly retorted during a press scrum Wednesday morning.
The executive was in Arlington, a suburb of Washington, for the NHL’s Rookie Showcase, an event organized by the association in partnership with hockey card maker Upper Deck.
“It’s still early,” noted the man who has been in office since February 2023, after having been mayor of Boston and then Secretary of Labor in the Biden administration, among other things.
Following a lockout that forced a reduced 48-game schedule in 2012-13, the league and NHLPA signed a 10-year collective bargaining agreement, which was amended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The addendum also extended the agreement for four more years, through 2026.
“Incredible year”
Despite all the optimism in the world, there will be no shortage of issues at the negotiating table. After going through some tough pandemic years, the league has returned to profitability, thanks in part to strong box office success. Revenues are steadily increasing. The circuit removed a thorn from its side by relocating the Arizona Coyotes, a franchise that had been racking up losses for years. And now, for the first time in five years, the salary cap has gone up significantly.
“We had an incredible year!” Marty Walsh summed up about the 2023-2024 season. Even if the discussions are not formally engaged with the league, the director will soon begin a “fall tour”, during which he hopes to “talk to the players about the upcoming collective agreement, about how to lay the foundations of an agreement”.
This will be his first time defending NHL players. “It’s a little different than the rail workers, but ultimately the fundamentals are the same,” he said, referring to the government intervention he took part in during a major labour dispute in 2022.
Walsh is not known for his politeness. More than once, he has railed against the untenable situation in Arizona, where the Coyotes have had to play games in a 5,000-seat university arena for the past two seasons. On the sidelines of the All-Star Game festivities last winter, he openly criticized the organization.
Again Wednesday, he applauded the franchise’s move to Utah, where, he said, players are discovering “a completely different world.”
“Some of them have never experienced anything like this since they started in the NHL,” he added. “The owners are committed to making this a success, and I think it’s going to be great for the league.”
A contract that leaves you thinking
Marty Walsh, meanwhile, hasn’t been very forthcoming about the eight-year deal that Seth Jarvis recently signed. The Carolina Hurricanes forward will make an average of $7.9 million annually, but will be taking about $400,000 off the club’s annual payroll in the interim.
The amount owed to him will be paid in full once his contract ends. Permitted by the current collective agreement, deferred payments are a complex practice, hitherto uncommon in the NHL, which gives teams flexibility in their daily management.
Asked by a reporter whether this model would be replicated in the future, Walsh simply replied that he was “not sure yet,” without elaborating further. The NHLPA had also approved Jarvis’ contract before it was announced, some media reports said.