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NHLPA declines to reopen CBA, ensuring labor peace through 2022

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After a season full of milestones, upsets and history, ring in the 2019-2020 NHL season on October 2 on NBCSN.

There will be labor peace in the NHL for at least the next three years.

The NHLPA announced on Monday that they are declining their option to reopen the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The players could have opted out, which would have meant the current agreement, which ends after the 2021-22 season would have instead concluded on Sept. 15, 2020.

“While players have concerns with the current CBA, we agree with the League that working together to address those concerns is the preferred course of action instead of terminating the agreement following this season,” said NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr in a statement. “We have been having discussions with the League about an extension of the CBA and expect that those talks will continue.”

“We are pleased with the NHL Players’ Association’s decision not to reopen the Collective Bargaining Agreement,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with the NHLPA for the benefit of all stakeholders, especially our fans.”

The NHL’s owners had a Sept. 1 deadline to decide if they wanted to reopen the CBA but chose against doing so stating, “Based on the current state of the game and the business of the game, the NHL believes it is essential to continue building upon the momentum we have created with our Players and, therefore, will not exercise its option to reopen the CBA.”

While the league has expressed its happiness with the current agreement and is fine with letting the final three years run out, the players, while they’ve chosen against reopening it, certainly have issues that they want to iron out. As escrow and future Olympic participation stand as two of the biggest topics that require clarity, the fact that talks between both sides in the lead up to these deadlines have been categorized as fairly positive makes one hopeful for long-term labor peace.

“I can only speak from the League standpoint,” said Bettman during the NHL Player Media Tour in Chicago earlier this month. “Obviously there are things that we think are issues in the collective bargaining agreement, but when we balance that against stability and labor peace, we came out in favor of moving forward without the possibility of distraction. The union has to make a similar decision.

“I think in all of our dealings over the years, I think rancor would be a bit of an exaggeration. It’s always been professional. It’s always been cordial. I think the issue comes when there are major issues of disagreement. Even on those issues where we’re focused where a change might be appropriate, we’ve decided now is not the time, and if we can work through our issues and possibly extend the CBA, that would be a good thing.”

MORE:
ProHockeyTalk’s 2019 NHL free agency tracker
Your 2019-20 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.