- Scott Brown via twitter: Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian will undergo surgery today to repair a chronic ligament tear in his right wrist. Gary Lawless via twitter: Bogosian will be out 4 to 6 months.
- Aaron Ward via twitter: “Players looking to clarify possible ‘double dipping’ in the new NHL proposal.Benefits in new HRR definition,present combined additional” … “expense deductions AND possible tax credits available to owners,while still asking players to absorb ‘escrow’ on salaries.”
- Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: KHLs Dynamo’s GM said that Alex Ovechkin’s attorney flew to Russia to speak with them regarding Ovechkin playing for them if there is a lockout.
- Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: If there is a long lockout, Sidney Crosby wants to play hockey and his agent Pat Brisson has had “many conversations with lots of European clubs.”
- Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times: Blackhawks Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are considering playing in Europe in the event of a long lockout according to agent Pat Brisson.
- Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch: Blues prospect Vladimir Tarasenko will arrive in St. Louis today, in is expected to hit the ice at the Ice Zone on Tuesday.
- Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Penguins signed RFAs Eric Tangradi, Robert Bortuzzo and Alex Grant to 1 year, 2 way deals. Tangradi will get $726,000, and both Bortuzzo and Grant will get $525,000.
- Dennis Bernstein via twitter: The KHL will air games in Asia this year, with an eye on expanding to China, South Korea and Japan according to izvestia_ru.
- Elliotte Friedman of CBC: In the NHLs most recent proposal, they made some changes to Hockey Related Revenue:
1) In the existing CBA, teams can deduct the cost of doing business from HRR. But there are limits. For example, deductions from preseason games or “special games” such as European openers, “shall not in the aggregate exceed fifteen (15) per cent per League Year on a League-wide basis” of the revenues. You can find all of the examples, if you wish, in Article 50 of the current document. The NHL is arguing that costs far exceed these caps.
2) One area of HRR the NHL cannot deduct ANY costs from is luxury suite sales (e.g., paying people to sell them). Everything must be thrown into the pot. Mistake, oversight, whatever – the league would like a re-do.
3) Lightning owner Jeff Vinik spent $35 million US last summer to upgrade The Tampa Bay Times Forum. Meanwhile, Rangers owner Jim Dolan committed an estimated $977 million to a massive renovation of the Madison Square Garden. (Say what you want about Dolan, but doing that without public funding is extremely impressive.) As it stands, teams receive no financial credit for that. The league would like that changed. The model is probably the latest NFL CBA, which allows the league the option of taking 1.5 per cent from the NFLPA’s 47 per cent share to build new stadiums. Larger revenues from newer buildings, the reasoning goes, benefits the players, too.
4) When players on one-way deals like Wade Redden or Jeff Finger are sent to the minors, their salaries no longer count. Not only is the NHL trying to eliminate this loophole from the salary-cap portion of the discussion, it is trying to make those contracts tied to HRR, too.