The NHL and the players’ union have a little more than a year to shake hands on a new collective bargaining agreement. And talks are going well, said league commissioner Gary Bettman ahead of the first game of the Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place Wednesday.

“No comparison,” answered Bettman when asked how the current negotiation process stacks up against previous CBA talks. “I think we are having a very constructive, professional dialogue. We started a little bit later than we had anticipated for a variety of reasons on both sides, so I don’t have an announcement to make today that we have a deal.  But we have more than a year to go, and I think we’re in really good shape, having really good discussions.”

The league has had relative labour peace since 2012-13, when a lockout wiped out about half of the regular season.

There have been some rumblings that the taxation disparities between the various provinces and states could become a CBA issue, as some franchises (cough, Montreal) have to pass on higher tax bills to their players than teams that play in relative tax havens for professional sports (cough, Florida). Bill Daly, the league’s deputy commissioner and head legal counsel, said that it’s not really a major blip on the NHL radar.

“Certainly it’s an issue that some of our franchises have raised as a concern,” said Daly. “I guess what I’d say at this point is that we don’t share the level of concern that they have, and what I’d say on top of that is that these imbalances have existed forever. There’s nothing new here.”

Daly said there are so many factors that play into where free agents decide to sign, from a team’s winning culture, the coaching staff, to the facilities and the club’s reputation when it comes to how players are treated. See, Detroit Red Wings of the 1990s and 2000s who had no trouble attracting free agents to a city that was in an economic freefall.

And to take the analogy just a little bit further, but who in the world sees Manchester as a luxury destination? Last time we looked Manchester City had a roster filled with international superstars.

Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito spoke to this ahead of Game 1. He bristled when asked if Florida’s advantageous tax rate gave the Panthers a skate up on other teams. He pointed instead to the US$65-million new practice facility that opened in 2024, the commitment from ownership to build a winner, year in and year out.

“I think the players have understood just how much we’ve been empowered by ownership to try to do the right things,” Zito said.

“I think the tax thing is marginal at best. I think the real reasons are that we’re trying to figure out ways to do our best to try to win.”

Bettman big on Calgary

With Bettman doing his state-of-the-league talk in Edmonton, there is no escaping the comparisons between Rogers Place and the Ice District to the plans down the highway in Calgary. Construction has begun on Scotia Place, which is set to host Flames games starting in 2027-28. The province contributed $330 million to the project, the City of Calgary is throwing in $537.3 million.

In response to making a financial contribution to the Flames, the province has put a deal on the table that would see it partially fund a $259-million event park next to Rogers Place in Edmonton’s Ice District.

“I think it was essential for the Flames and, actually, the City of Calgary,” Bettman said of the new arena. “They needed a new events centre, a new arena, and I think it can be transformative just as it’s been here in Edmonton. You look at this arena, you look at the Ice District, and I believe the plans in Calgary are equally exciting. People in Calgary, whether or not you’re a Flames fan, should really be excited about it, right?”

Expansion rumblings

And that’s what they are — rumblings. There are groups in Houston and in Atlanta looking to swell the league past its current roster of 32 teams.

Think about it, at 32 teams if the law of averages holds, your team should only be good to win a Cup once every three decades. But money talks.

Daly said that the NHL has no solid plan to expand, but that doesn’t mean it’s not listening to potential suitors.

“We’ve gotten a lot of interest from people in markets who want to host NHL teams, and we take a lot of meetings,” said Daly.

“If somebody wants to essentially apply for an expansion franchise and has all the requisite elements that we would look for in an expansion franchise, we would raise it with the board of governors and see if they have any interest in it.”

Related

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun