The full NHL Players Association membership will vote on a comprehensive Return to Play proposal that would include a collective bargaining agreement extension as well as coronavirus-related protocols for training camp (Phase 3) and the projected summer Stanley Cup tournament (Phase 4) once ongoing negotiations between the league and the union conclude, The Post has learned.
And, as Artemi Panarin posted to his Instagram account Thursday afternoon, the issue of escrow is going to be paramount on the economic side when the players cast their ballots.
The 28-year-old winger who established himself as a Hart Trophy candidate off his spectacular first season on Broadway in which he recorded 95 points in 69 games, wrote he is “very much looking forward to the playoffs with the New York Rangers.”
But even as he acknowledged concerns over health-related issues, Panarin trained his focus on escrow — the percentage of a player’s salary withheld by the league and union to ensure a 50-50 split in hockey-related income — in addressing “the long term prosperity of the NHL.”
“For nearly two decades, the Players have protected the owners income with escrow, including throughout this pandemic crisis, in which owners equity has continued to grow exponentially,” wrote Panarin, who has been training for the last week in Aspen, Colo., after having skated a couple of days at the Rangers’ practice facility in the Phase 2 small-group workouts. “It is time to fix the escrow.
“We as players cannot report to camp to resume play without already having an agreement in place. We are all in this together. Also, I know the process for the selection of Hub Cities is ongoing. I sincerely wish that my teammates and I could train and play games at MSG and bring employment and economic opportunity safely back to New York City for Rangers fans and all New Yorkers.”
Sources have indicated the anticipated CBA proposal generated by the league and union will include a cap on escrow on a de-linked flat salary cap expected to come in around $83 million for at least three seasons as the parties attempt to deal with the economic issues caused by the pandemic. That number could be subject to change. That excess would roll over for the first two or three years, but a hard cap on escrow would be gradually introduced over the life of the extension.
If true, that would mean an end to the strict, linked, 50-50 percentage split of hockey-related revenue between the players and the owners. It is unknown whether the owners would protect their 50-50 over the full term of the deal even as opposed to on a yearly basis. It is also unknown just what accommodations the union has made in order to get the escrow cap, even if on a temporary basis.
Without an escrow cap, and depending on the course of the virus, players could play for no more than 50 percent of their base salary next year. If the 2020-21 salary cap is set at approximately $83 million, even though this season’s revenue would ordinarily create a cap of between $65 million-$68 million, escrow deductions could be massive if the season (or portion thereof) is played without fans or if municipal health guidelines limit arena capacities.
Players also will be responsible for making up approximately 14 percent of escrow from 2019-20. (If the 2020 tournament is not played at all, the escrow carryover from this year to next would be about 21 percent.) Panarin, by the way, will be entering the second year of his seven-year, $81.5 million contract.
Training camp is tentatively scheduled to begin July 10, or two weeks from Friday. As reported by The Post on June 20, teams are scheduled to travel to their respective hub cities on July 23 or July 24, with the best-of-five qualifying rounds and the seeding round-robin set to begin on July 30. This, of course, represents a best-case scenario.
Subject to mutual agreement between the league and PA, Las Vegas, Edmonton and Toronto are believed the leading candidates to become host cities for the tournament through which NHL personnel will be contained in a “bubble.” Thus if two Western Conference cities are chosen, then either the Golden Knights or Oilers will play at home, albeit in a building without fans.
The Rangers will meet the Hurricanes while the Islanders will face off against Florida in the qualifiers that will precede the 16-team Cup playoffs. If, that is, the virus allows and the players ratify a Return to Play plan that incorporates a revamped and extended CBA that addresses their long-standing escrow concerns.