Issues concerning next collective-bargaining agreement already being discussed
Anders Lee of the Islanders plays the puck during the third period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Barclays Center on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The NHL and the NHL Players Association met twice this past week in Toronto. More talks are scheduled for this week.
And while the nascent negotiations still are a long way from a new collective-bargaining agreement that would ensure labor peace after owners’ lockouts forced shortened seasons in 1994-95 and 2012-13 and the cancellation of the 2004-05 season, it’s always better for the sides to be talking.
“Any kind of talks is a positive,” said Islanders captain Anders Lee, also the team’s NHLPA player representative. “Whether it’s to hash things out and figure out where everyone stands, I think, going into this, both sides have a pretty good understanding of each other’s needs and wants. That will breed, I think, a good opportunity to get something done.”
The current CBA lasts until September 2022 after neither side triggered its opt-out clause in September.
Still, there are serious issues to be negotiated.
The NHLPA wants Olympic participation and the International Olympic Committee indicated this past week that it is willing to cover costs such as insurance and travel that it would not in 2018. That was seen as a positive step toward participation in the 2022 Beijing Games after the NHL did not send its players to South Korea in 2018.
The NHL likely will try to tie Olympic participation to other concessions from the NHLPA, meaning that won’t be an easy negotiation.
Semyon Varlamov #40 of the New York Islanders looks on after surrendering a goal late in the third period against the New York Rangers at NYCB Live on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Neither will the escrow issue, the percentage withheld from players’ contracts to ensure a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue. Last season, the average escrow was about 9.5%, a serious chunk of change taken from each paycheck that can be plainly seen on the pay stub.
Which is the bigger issue to the NHLPA?
“It’s a good question,” Lee said. “I think it depends on who you ask. The Olympics is an extremely important thing not only for the guys who get to play in it but for the growth of the game. At the same time, it is a small percentage of the guys in our league who get to represent their country. But we want that opportunity as a league.
“I think the escrow thing is an easy topic, but it’s something immediately that you see personally. It’s not just escrow itself. There are things that go into it that make that number what it is. There are some other things, long-term, post- career, that guys have put a lot of importance on. We’ll try to include as many things as we can.”
Not a fan
Count Islanders coach Barry Trotz among those who wishes the NHL would alter its playoff format.
The NHL realigned into four divisions in two conferences in 2013-14, with the top three teams in each division and two wild-card teams — regardless of division — qualifying for the postseason in each conference.
The teams are then set into a rigid bracket format. This often results in the division champion playing the second- or third-place team in the division in the second round, virtually guaranteeing early exits for some of the league’s top teams.
That happened to Trotz in 2016 and 2017. His Capitals won the Presidents’ Trophy each season with the most points in the NHL, but the Penguins — who finished second in the Metropolitan Division in each of those seasons — eliminated the Capitals in the second round both years.
“Us and Pitt are one-two and we’re meeting each other in the second round,” Trotz said. “I’ve always been a proponent that you want first in the division to mean something and then it should just be reseeding.
“You want teams that finish higher and have more cache in the regular season, if they’ve got it in the playoffs and they’re playing well, you don’t need them to knock each other out in the first or second round.”
Picked from the pod
Semyon Varlamov, from Samara, Russia, is in his first season with the Islanders after eight with the Avalanche and two-plus seasons with the Capitals, who drafted him 23rd overall in 2006.
He was the guest on Episode 20 of Newsday’s Island Ice podcast, discussing his adjustment to life in North America, how he learned to speak English and his beginnings as a goalie.
“I remember my first tournament, I think I was 8 or 9 years old with my hometown team,” Varlamov said. “We went to the tournament, we got beat every game like 15-0 or 22-0. I would give up 20 goals. At the end of the tournament, my stats were like 12 or 14 goals per game. But I was trying to work hard. I was still having fun.
“By the end of the tournament, we gave up 150 goals or something,” he added. “So my dad, he came to me after the tournament and he asked me, ‘Are you all right?’ Because he thought I’m going to be tired. He thought this was it after I had given up so many goals in my first tournament. He thought like I’m going to be done.
“I actually told him, ‘No, I love it.’ Even after giving up the goals, it’s just a matter of time when I’m going to stop the shots. I continued to keep working hard and then, one day, I became a better goalie.”
High fives
Monday’s 5-3 win at Washington and Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Flyers at Barclays Center marked the fourth time in the last 20 years the Islanders have scored at least five goals on consecutive days, not including shootout-deciding goals. The others:
Jan. 6-7, 2014: Dallas, W, 7-3; at Toronto, W, 5-3
Dec. 2-3, 2006: at Pittsburgh, W, 5-3; at Rangers, W, 7-4
Oct. 10-11, 2001: at Pittsburgh, W, 6-3; at New Jersey, W, 6-4
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
