#NHL, players agree to CBA extension

The NHL finalized the necessary details for finishing this season Sunday night and followed that up Monday by agreeing on a path forward for the next six years.

Now it’s up to the players and board of governors to make it official.

After agreeing on the protocols for Phase 3 (training camp) and Phase 4 (Stanley Cup tournament), the league and its Players Association on Monday tentatively agreed on a memorandum of understanding to extend the current collective bargaining agreement through the 2025-26 season, the two sides announced.

Both parts of the negotiations — the Return to Play plan and the CBA extension — together are now subject to a vote of the NHLPA’s executive board, then the full NHLPA membership, as well as the league’s governing body for ratification. The voting process will take place over the next few days.

Under the tentative agreement, formal training camps would begin on July 13, with teams then traveling to their hub cities — Toronto and Edmonton — on July 26 and the tournament beginning by Aug. 1.

Of course, all of that is subject to change based on the health and safety of the players involved. The league released new COVID-19 testing data Monday, which showed a total of 23 positive cases from more than 2,900 samples. Since Phase 2 — voluntary small-group workouts at team facilities — began on June 8, there have also been 12 players to test positive outside of the Phase 2 protocol.

The current CBA — which was agreed to after the 2012-13 lockout — had been set to expire after the 2021-22 season, but now the league and union have a chance to kick the can down the road regarding labor strife.