A piece of expansion money will come up on the CBA talks for the players
James Murphy of RG.org: Expansion fees are not part of the 50/50 hockey related revenue split between the NHL and the players in the current CBA. The CBA expires after next season and there has been some speculation about expanding by two more teams.
NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh said he hasn’t spoken with Gary Bettman about it, but likely will at some point. The owners obviously would prefer to keep it the way it is.
“It may be a short conversation, but it will be a conversation,” Walsh quipped. “Look, maybe we can get creative and somehow have it benefit retired players, but again, the problem is, once you don’t have a benefit, or you lose a benefit, it’s hard to get it back in negotiations. Look, I can’t speak to why we haven’t had a cut in the past, but maybe they did fight for it, and I haven’t had the conversations with my predecessors to ask.”
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The Montreal Canadiens are open to moves but won’t mortgage the future
TSN: Pierre LeBrun doesn’t think the Montreal Canadiens thought the playoffs were a realistic outcome for this season. They may have been hoping to play some meaningful games this season but they’re currently off to a slow start and are last in the division.
Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is making calls around the league to see what might become available.
“… because I think the Canadiens would be open to making a move here that would help sort of shake up the makeup a bit here, and help this team win some games. The reality though is there is almost no trades at this time of year – we know that in a cap system.
I don’t think there’s anything imminent for Montreal, but I think it’s noteworthy that the Habs aren’t just sitting there and saying, ‘Oh well, we’re off to a slow start, that’s life.'”
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The Canadiens are going to mortgage their future. They also don’t have much salary cap space, so it might have have to be money-in, money-out.
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