The new CBA goes into effect this season, and there are several items that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA Exec Dir Marty Walsh will be “monitoring closely during the transition,” according to Chris Johnston of THE ATHLETIC. Fitness tests were “abolished” in the CBA. Walsh said that getting rid of the tests was a “trade-off” for the players “agreeing to a longer regular season.” Another new feature will be emergency backup goaltenders (EBUGs), which every club will be required to carry. Daly said having one “should help alleviate” concerns by teams over increasing goalie injuries. The new CBA also gives teams “more flexibility to develop their top prospects” by allowing first-round draft picks out of the Canadian Hockey League to be “assigned to the AHL for their 19-year-old season.” Daly said that the NHL will be “closely monitoring how the transition goes.” Daly: “It will be interesting to see how that’s utilized.” Johnston writes the requirement for players to wear a suit and tie is also a “thing of the past.” The dress code was eliminated during last season as part of early transition dates agreed upon for the new CBA, but the new standard was not “always observed properly.” Walsh said, “There was a little hiccup with the dress code. Some coaches and GMs and other players wanted players to wear suits and that’s not the rule anymore. Players can wear whatever they want” (THE ATHLETIC, 9/8).
NOT YET: THE ATHLETIC’s Michael Russo noted that the NHL “denied that one of the groups developing a project to build an arena in suburban Atlanta that could house an expansion team has ‘submitted a final packet for approval’” after a social media post made waves on Friday. Daly said Atlanta is “not even remotely close to an application phase.” The development team behind The Gathering in South Forsyth had said that it “submitted a final financing packet to the NHL for review and approval.” On Saturday, the group “released a statement acknowledging the premature announcement.” The league is currently “not close to the application phase with Atlanta, and regardless, any determination for or against would be made by the Board of Governors, not by the league office” (THE ATHLETIC, 9/4).
MORE GROWTH REQUIRED: In Salt Lake City, Brogan Houston wrote as the NHL contemplates expanding to potentially as many as 36 teams in the next decade, playoff expansion “should not be considered optional.” Houston suggested a format similar to the NBA’s play-in tournament, but adapted to fit the NHL game. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has “defended the current playoff structure on a number of occasions in recent years.” He acknowledges that the system “isn’t perfect, but he isn’t worried about it.” The NHL does not need to go back to allowing 75% of the teams into the playoffs as it did when there were only six teams, but it is “high time for an evolution of some sort” (DESERET NEWS, 9/7).