NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and executive director of the NHLPA Marty Walsh were center stage ahead of the league’s opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off on Wednesday. The two collaborated with deputy commissioner Bill Daly and the NHLPA’s assistant executive director Ron Hainsey to announce the return of the World Cup of Hockey in 2028.
The four-man panel fielded questions about the future tournament, but attending reporters also took the opportunity to get them on the record about their upcoming CBA negotiations. The NHL’s current CBA expires on September 15, 2026, but the two parties plan to start talks well before that deadline.
“I think we are in a good place in terms of our collective bargaining relationship, in terms of our overall relationship,” Bettman said. “I remain more than optimistic that while we have some work to do, we’re going to get to where we’re going, and people won’t even notice that we’ve done it.”
Walsh, who became head of the players’ union in 2023, echoed Bettman’s optimism. The NHLPA recently completed its fall tour of the league’s teams, meeting with the players ahead of negotiations.
“When you look at hockey right now, you think about the excitement that’s happening,” Walsh said. “Last week, the commissioner announced the increased salary cap, three years in a row. This week, we’re doing 4 Nations. We just talked about the World Cup in 2028. We’re talking about the Olympics. A lot of great things happening.
“There’s a lot of good momentum here. The last thing you want to do is ruin the momentum. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to have disagreements – it’s about going into it with a positive attitude. Honestly, I feel that way. You look at labor negotiations in North America or around the world, where they go bad is when two sides go in, and they’re not necessarily on the same page to get agreements done.”
As Walsh mentioned, the NHL announced in late January that significant salary cap increases would occur over the next three seasons. With hockey-related revenue dramatically recovering in the “post-pandemic” world, the cap’s upper limit will rise from $88 million to $113.5 million by the start of the 2027-28 campaign.
The salary cap updates would indicate that the league and union agreed on the increases as part of the upcoming negotiations. Bettman threw cold water on that idea, explaining the cap news as external to future CBA discussions.
“We haven’t formally started yet,” Bettman said. “That was part of doing the business we need to do on an ongoing basis. I think it was good for the players and good for the teams to get some sense of predictability. Obviously, the numbers are subject to adjustment based on what may be happening in the world’s economic climate.
“But it just is another indication of how well we are working together and how well we are communicating. I know we told you we would start negotiations in February or thereabouts. We’ll get started when Marty tells me we’re going to get started.”
Walsh did not give a specific timeframe for when his side will be ready to discuss the matter but did reveal that he expects talks to be wrapped up quickly once they do.
“Yeah, we’re getting there,” Walsh said. “We still have some work to do on our side. We’re going to be here for the next week and a half here in Boston, and we try to do a lot at the same time. So, we want to start this off on the right foot. We want to get going right away.
“Commissioner has an, I wouldn’t say, aggressive timeline, but would like to get it done sooner than later. I think we all would love to do that. I don’t want this to be prolonged forever. We want to get it right out of the box. I think we’re good. If we do it properly, we probably don’t tell anyone.”
The news of potentially quick talks will be great news for fans, players, and team owners. During Bettman’s tenure as commissioner, which started in 1993, the NHL has had three separate work stoppages. The 1994-95 lockout shortened the season to 48 games, the 2004-05 lockout canceled the entire season, and the 2012-13 lockout again shortened the season to 48 games.
