Upcoming announcements from Gary Bettman?
The relationship between NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHLPA has been shaky at best during his 30 years at the helm of the NHL.
There have been three lockouts with vast amounts of seasonal play wiped out with multiple TV deals that have gone well or not.
The latest setback for the NHL was the 2020-22 COVID pandemic.
It had a high impact on the league's bottom line and prevented the NHL from raising its salary cap to a proper number which has been reduced to $1,000,000 per year. It has handcuffed teams to be in cap compliance and has managed other teams to broker deals and bankroll salaries to make trades work.
In a recent interview with SiriusXM NHL, Bettman announced that he'll be discussing with the NHLPA the World Cup and the Winter Olympics in 2026.
It's expected the NHL will resume its involvement with the Olympics as many players from NHL organizations will play in this tournament. This practice has been barred for many years, but the appetite to return is there.
There's also a disruption for the schedule of that year since the Olympics will be happening at the same time as the NHL season which will put a major strain on teams have players heading over.
We'll need to see what comes out of this meeting and if the NHL will return to the Olympics.
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