Gary Bettman says NHL-NHLPA talks on a new CBA are ‘in really good shape’

EDMONTON Alberta AP Negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement are progressing well though there is no timeline on reaching a deal NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh disclosed Wednesday Bettman at his annual state of the league address prior to Challenge of the Stanley Cup Final revealed the sides are having very constructive professional cordial dialogue Talks did not begin until April and there is still quite particular time until the current CBA expires in September I don t have an announcement to make at present that we have a deal but we have more than a year to go and I think we re in really good shape having really good discussions Bettman commented That s a testament to Marty Walsh and Ron Hainsey and people at the Players Association who have been working tirelessly with us Walsh declared the league and union were having good ongoing conversations adding there are not major issues on the table to quibble over It s moving steady it s moving forward and I feel good with where we are and we ll see what happens Walsh mentioned It gets complicated at certain times any collective bargaining agreement but it s not where it was in the past here where you re seeing national disputes between organized labor and companies Hainsey the NHLPA s assistant executive director expects the constant meetings to continue during the final in Edmonton and South Florida We re all in the same place at the same time Hainsey commented There are multiple days in between these games where we can find something for ourselves to do No Russians in Olympics Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly declared the league does not expect Russian players to participate in the Olympics next year That would be status quo for the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation which has banned Russian teams since that country s invasion of Ukraine in early Walsh stated players he has spoken to are disappointed not to be able to participate in Milan the first Olympics with NHL participation since It s out of their control and there s not much they can do Walsh stated There s not much they can do with what s happening in Ukraine and Russia and they want to play best on best We hear it all the time They want to play best on best and we were hoping that by this point in time the conflict or the war would not be where it is Expansion Daly announced the league is not engaging in a formal expansion process to go beyond teams but administrators are listening to probable ownership groups about any proposals If somebody wants to essentially apply for an expansion franchise and has all the requisite elements that we would look for in an expansion franchise we would raise it with the Board of Governors and see if they have any interest in it Daly revealed There are particular people we ve talked to more than others but there s a lot of interest which I think we re gratified with AP NHL playoffs https apnews com hub stanley-cup and https apnews com hub nhl Source