With half the season already canceled due to the ongoing lockout, the National Hockey League has
reportedly made an offer to its players that moves a little bit from the string of previous "offers" demanding massive concessions.
The player, who requested anonymity, said the NHL made a new offer to the NHLPA on Thursday, one that moved on the term limit for player contracts, salary variance and buyouts, according to the player. [...]
Details of the new offer include:
- Term limit on player contracts moves to six years from the five years NHL asked in previous offers (seven years if you're re-signing your own player).
- Year-to-year salary variance moves from 5 percent (NHL's previous offers) to 10 percent.
- Each team will be allowed one compliance buyout before the 2013-14 season that will not count against the salary cap but will count against the players' share.
- The Make Whole provision stays at $300 million.
The NHL is not confirming this report, but there is a reason for movement to come now: players voted last week to allow their union, the NHL Players' Association, to dissolve, which would allow players to file an anti-trust lawsuit against the league. The NHLPA's executive board has yet to follow through, but that threat could shake loose a better offer from league management and owners. That said, we're talking about a massive money and power grab of a lockout—there's no way the players are coming out with anything that in a reasonable world would look like a win. There's only the possibility of something short of a total loss.