With just five days to go before the players' association can withdraw from the current collective bargaining agreement, the league and the NHLPA are meeting face-to-face again Tuesday in the hopes of finding common ground. TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun says the two sides are continuing talks that began on Friday.
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The NHL has already announced it's not withdrawing from the current agreement. If the players decide to do so, the two sides would have until September of 2020 to reach a new deal, or a lockout would occur. If both sides are fine with things the way they are, the current CBA will remain in place until September of 2022, giving everyone involved more time to reach a new agreement and avoid any games being missed.
While both the league and NHLPA have said the talks are going well, many players have expressed discontent with the current escrow system, which shares NHL revenues between the league and players. Because salaries are outpacing the league's revenue growth, players are having a percentage of their money held in a bank account and kicked back to team owners, rather than the players, which is what was happening in the past. It effectively means players are not getting the full amount of money promised in their contracts, which likely wouldn't sit well with anyone doing any job.
