I solved it. Pretty easy. Why the drama?
We are at day number I Don’t Care in the lockout, and we still don’t have a deal to get this season underway. Both sides are being ridiculously stubborn with their demands, and it is pure hatred and disrespect on both sides that prevents cooler heads and common sense from prevailing. The deal that is going to be made is right in front of us, and it has been since August.
The players want 100% of their signed contracts honored. That is a fair request.
The owners want a 50/50 split of HRR. That is a fair request.
Both of these are sticking points for both sides. Both of these are easily obtainable. But here’s the kicker: Both sides agree with the other! So what in the world is holding up a deal?
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Wade Redden vs. Benoit Pouliot. Huh?
When the NHL’s proposal was made public, the clause that scared a lot of fans was that AHL clause. The clause states that those players making over $105,000 in the AHL — on NHL contracts, as in they signed with the NHL club — will have the difference count against the NHL salary cap. For those keeping score, that means that of Wade Redden’s $6.5 million cap hit, $6.4 million will count against the NHL cap.
This clause — dubbed the Wade Redden clause — is designed as a prevention against cap circumvention. When looking at the Rangers, there is no way they would have been able to afford Marian Gaborik and Rick Nash if they still had Redden on the books. This clause is aimed at that, but believe it or not, it doesn’t really affect the Rangers.
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The NHL made an offer that showed significant process in the CBA negotiations.
Well yesterday sure was exciting, wasn’t it? At around 1pm, the news broke that the NHL had taken the first step towards actual negotiations, and offered the players a 50/50 split of hockey-related revenues (side note: that’s not total revenues, HRR is a CBA term that is defined within the CBA). But it’s not just about the 50/50 split, which is a big step, but there are other areas that are important. Let’s break those down:
The 50/50 Split
This is the easiest to breakdown, as it’s the main talking point of the negotiations. The players currently rake in 57% of HRR. The initial offer from the offers took that to 43%, and the counter proposal from the players took it to 52% (over a few years). The NHL made a final counter that took them to 47%. A 50/50 split is fair for both sides.
That said, it’ll be surprising if the players accept a 7% cut right off the bat, even if their contracts are guaranteed (more on that next). I’d expect the owners to make counter offer that gets the split to 50/50 over a few years, but makes that first year around 52% or a little higher.
Guaranteed Contracts with Escrow
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Time for an arbitrator folks. Get this done please.
Are you sick of the lockout yet? I know I am. Maybe that’s why it’s time these sides realize they won’t agree on anything. Maybe it’s time for them to get an arbitrator and just settle on a deal.
For those unfamiliar with CBA arbitration, it’s very similar to player arbitration. When two sides are far off on a deal, they jointly hire a neutral third-party to analyze both proposals, hear the arguments from both sides, and come to a conclusion in the middle that the sides will need to accept. However, much like player arbitration, both sides can walk away from the arbitrator’s decision, like they did in 2004.
So why do the sides need an arbitrator at this point?
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The Rangers, despite what many may think, are in a good place with the salary cap. Photograph: Adam Hunger/Reuters
If and when this lockout ends, it is fair to assume that the salary cap ceiling will not remain at $70.2 million. In fact, there is a solid chance that the salary cap will actually stay at last year’s number of $64.3 million*. If that winds up being the case, then the Rangers have positioned themselves well for the next several years.
Looking at Capgeek, the Rangers have $59 million committed to the cap for the 2012-2013 season. That number includes Chris Kreider, but does not include Michael Del Zotto. It also includes Michael Sauer, who will be placed on LTIR if need be, giving the Rangers an extra $1.25 million to work with. All in all, that gives the organization more than enough room to sign MDZ and still remain under the cap.
But with so many key players (Sauer, Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin, Ryan McDonagh) approaching restricted free agency, the concern has always been for next season.
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NBC’s first game is Black Friday. Will that be the first game of the year?
The only thing that will push negotiations is a sense of urgency from one side. Until that sense of urgency happens, we will be seeing a lot of meetings about non-core financial issues, lots of meetings with no progress, and lots of statements to the press about how the other side won’t budge from their “outrageous demands.”
The question that everyone is asking is, “When will they make progress?” But the question should be, “When will urgency kick in?”
Urgency will settle in for the league when NBC comes calling a month before they are set to broadcast the November 23 game between the Rangers and Bruins. While it is just one game, and the only game on NBC before the Winter Classic, it’s the first time a major corporate sponsor will begin to get on the phone and pressure the league to make a deal.
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How will this lockout affect the future?
How will the lockout affect the game’s future?
The other night on Twitter I posed this 3-point question:
- How betrayed/disrespect do you feel by the NHL and NHLPA?
- How much does that really matter to your interest?
- Bottom line: will it really stop you from spending money on tickets?
Plenty of Rangers fans are outraged and insist this latest work stoppage is an unforgivable foul. I suspect that some of the fan base has really been turned off, but not a big enough part to make any difference; the Garden will still fill up.
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Roses are red. Violets are blue. Get something done, before I throw my shoe.
Well yesterday afternoon sure was interesting. Around 5pm, news broke that the NHL and the NHLPA were “far apart” on the non-economic, non-core issues that are also holding up the beginning of the hockey season. Considering that both sides have different mentalities on the holes in the current CBA, the fact that they are apart on these issues isn’t all that surprising. It’s also not that worrisome.
Generally speaking, these non-important issues aren’t really talking points until the core issues get closer to resolved. In fact, it’s actually relatively surprising that they are discussing these issues without discussing the core financial issues that continue to plague these negotiations.
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Neither side is willing to negotiate, and that is where the true issues lie.
Disclaimer: While I believe that the NHLPA has negotiated in good faith and that the majority of the blame for the current situation lies with the owners, I believe both sides are to blame for the lockout. This post is not coming from a journalist, but from someone with an MBA who understands the business aspect that is the NHL.
We’ve all heard the issues with these negotiations. First it was the insulting first offer by the owners. Then it was a flat-out rejection of the first NHLPA proposal. Then it was a flat-out rejection of the second NHL offer.
After that, nothing.
And therein lies the problem with these negotiations. It’s not that these sides are miles apart, it’s that neither wants to be the one that “cracks” first. The players cracked in 2004-2005, and the owners think they will again. The players know they cracked, so they hired Donald Fehr to make sure they don’t crack. It’s a never-ending cycle.
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When CBA talks broke off early this week, we knew it was only a matter of time before the league would begin canceling regular season games. Now it is official, as the league announced they have cancelled all games through October 24.
For the Rangers this means that five games have officially been cancelled: 10/12 at Los Angeles, 10/15 at San Jose, 10/17 at New Jersey, 10/19 at Buffalo, and 10/23 at Tampa Bay.
The fact that it has come to this is ridiculous. It shows how greedy both sides are, and how much they all want that extra dollar. The fans are the ones that are suffering, and no one seems to care about that.
