MANALAPAN, Fla. – NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman emerged from two days of meetings with the league’s Board of Governors at the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa expressing confidence that the league and the NHL Players’ Association would work out a new collective bargaining agreement well in advance of the current CBA expires in September 2026.

Relations between the two parties seemed eternally frosty, leading to lockouts in 1994, 2004 and 2012. Things seemed to be anything but warm and fuzzy in 2020 when a four-year extension to the current CBA was ratified.

But as Bettman discussed the current relationship with the Palestinian Authority leadership on Tuesday, it should only provide hope that a new agreement can be reached quickly and peacefully.

“I find the collaboration with (general manager) Marty Walsh and (deputy general manager) Ron Hainsey, as well as (deputy NHL commissioner) Bill (Daly), very constructive, very professional, very warm.

“We won’t prematurely predict what will happen, but we hope to do this as quickly and smoothly as possible.”

Bettman reiterated that formal talks are scheduled to begin in February, but also said that discussions between both parties are ongoing; that the league met with the PA last week and will meet with them again next week and that there are plans to discuss raising the salary cap for the 2025-26 season beyond the five percent threshold set in the current agreement to discuss.

When the commissioner was asked whether the transition from a $92.4 million cap to a $96 million or $97 million cap next season would need to be addressed in a new CBA, he opened up Door to the possibility that the two league and PA could come to an agreement before the new agreement takes effect.

“I wouldn’t necessarily view (negotiating a new) CBA as the only time to make adjustments,” Bettman said. “We could decide to adjust and then look at the CBA, maybe we’ll decide to make it all part of the package and it’s a little freer and not as structured as the question suggests.”

We have no certainty as to whether they will agree to raise the cap above current levels, but there are incentives from both owners and players to do so – particularly in a controlled manner rather than a dramatic one.

Players have deposited large amounts of their earnings into an escrow account over the past three seasons before settling debts to owners, who had to absorb the bulk of lost revenue during the 2020-2022 seasons affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources have indicated that they do not expect a massive increase in the cap in 2025-26 if it would result in significant withholdings from their salaries for trust payments.

Without a reasonable increase of $92.4 million, the current 50-50 split of hockey revenue with owners could result in them paying more than 100 percent of their revenue, based on Bettman’s revenue forecast of $6 .6 billion with the media on Tuesday.

What is certain is that we have moved beyond mere speculation that the cap for the 2025-26 season could be increased more than previously agreed.

“As we look at revenue, we will have discussions with the players’ association about the escrow amount and whether the cap can or should be adjusted a little further on an ongoing basis,” Bettman said, “but that’s something we have to do.” really come to an agreement with the players’ association.”

“But we are having these discussions,” he added.

Both he and Daly declined to comment on anything else that might be on the table as the NHL and NHLPA work toward a new agreement.

They were asked about a shortened preseason and the possibility of awarding the Stanley Cup at the end of June rather than the end of May, but Bettman called the idea of ​​possibly starting training camps in August “absurd.”

“There is a certain level of competition that you have to participate in and it takes a certain number of days to do it,” he said. “You can only put pressure on it to a certain extent and we respect the compression of the schedule – particularly when you take breaks for the 4 Nations, the World Cup or the Olympics. So you just can’t say, ‘Okay, it would be great to finish in May.’ You just can’t do that without there being consequences on the other side.”

Bettman also said there was a lot of resistance among owners to starting earlier and competing with the start of the NFL’s season and Major League Baseball’s final push toward the postseason.

No active tampering investigations

Although Bettman sent a memo about the consequences of tampering to all 32 general managers in November, Bettman said the league is not currently investigating cases of tampering.

“I don’t like manipulation, and if someone claims manipulation and it can be proven, of course there are consequences,” Bettman said. “But I don’t want to get involved in individual cases at the moment.

“When you have rules, you want the rules to be followed.”

Andlauer said there were never any trade discussions about Tkachuk between the Rangers and Senators at any point and implied – without saying so directly – that the information was leaked by the Rangers to lure Tkahcuk, who is currently completing the fourth year of a seven-season season and $57.56 million earned contract.

The Rangers responded that Andlauer had made “an irresponsible accusation” and said they would contact Bettman’s office about the matter.

When asked about the incident on Tuesday, Bettman did not comment.

As for the NHL’s desire to crack down on tampering, Daly told us the league would only open an investigation if the allegations made to it were backed up by solid evidence.

As for the memo that came out in November, it was believed to be in response to how quickly free agent signings were reported after the July 1 opener.

We asked Daly if there was a push to restore the free agent discussion window – from 2013 to 2019, NHL owners and GMs were able to meet with unrestricted free agents in the week before July to discuss general parameters of deals without them to formally agree 1 – and he said it would be discussed.

If those discussions go nowhere — and it’s possible they don’t, considering players ultimately called for the free-agent conversation window to be scrapped — July 1 contract announcements could trickle out much slower than last summer.

• Our Elliotte Friedman reported that the Florida Panthers are “hosting an outdoor game as early as next season” at LoanDepot Park, where the Miami Marlins baseball team plays.

• Daly said the NHL met with the International Ice Hockey Federation in November after holding several discussions with European nations and leagues about reviving the World Cup of Hockey in 2028. “I hope to hear from them sometime before the end of the calendar year,” he said of next steps.

Daly also said that the Olympic agreement for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games is nearing completion and that the arena project in Milan is progressing on schedule, with completion expected in October 2025 and a test tournament planned for December 2026.

• Bettman reiterated that the league continues to receive “expressions of interest” in expansion, but that expansion is not currently being discussed with governors. It was not on the agenda at these meetings and is not expected to be on the agenda at future meetings until a new CBA is in place.

Given that future expansion fees are expected to exceed $1.5 billion and perhaps even reach $2 billion, the question of whether the NHL will expand is more a matter of when than if. Especially since interest is coming from potential markets like Houston, Atlanta and Arizona, among others.

• When Bettman was asked why the relationship between the NHL and NHLPA is as healthy as he suggests, he replied: “I think Marty Walsh’s focus on how that relationship should work is probably a little different than what it is we have experienced.”