Much like the COVID era renewal of the NHL/NHLPA CBA, this labour agreement is coming up in interesting times in the world (read: unprecedented lunacy). The amount of uncertainty surrounding something as simple as the league playing in two countries (read: one country trying to annex the other) is something that has often been taken for granted aside from the always-present concerns over the value of the Canadian Dollar. “May you live in interesting times” has always been a curse but when it comes to labour that curse seems to be multiplied. That’s why it should be encouraging to everyone who plans on weathering the storms of uncertainty by watching sports that the NHL and the NHLPA seem committed to getting a deal struck quickly before these interesting times have a greater impact on the bottom line for the owners or the players.

Getting a deal done today seems like it would be getting done at the peak of the league’s profitability. The popularity of the league might not be at its highest point, but gambling revenue has a funny way of offsetting the fact that the NHL is losing ground to Major League Soccer, the WNBA, the UFC and almost every form of motor racing. The money is there, the new Canadian TV deal is in place, and there is an appetite for expansion.

From the players side of things, the salary cap is going up and the darkest days of escrow are in the rearview mirror. The Olympics are on the schedule again and as long as the money is there for them as well it seems like players safety, alumni support services, and removing some of the restrictive contractual barriers aren’t a priority at this point. Even if players aren’t getting a cut of expansion, the creation of multiple new jobs around the league does a lot for job security, and when the average career doesn’t last too long and the deal is voted on by the players in the league not coming into it, doing what is right at the moment and avoiding lockouts is always going to be prioritized over things like restricted free agency.

Seemingly, all that both sides are going to want to do is rubber-stamp the current agreement again and move on with their lives. Of course, it won’t be that simple. The players are going to want to negotiate assurances that their least favourite things won’t return. They want to know what their pay cheque will look like every week. They will push for a bigger cut of Hockey Related Revenue and make a case for a slice of the expansion fees. They may even ask for access to frivolous things like the ability to get a second opinion on injuries from their own doctor instead of trusting the team when it comes to their health.

The owners are going to want safety nets in case the economy falls into the toilet. There is a very real possibility that fewer people will have the money to spend on sports like they previously have and there is a possibility that doing business in two countries in a trade war with each other will become more expensive. No matter how much the owners can afford it, it doesn’t change the fact that they don’t want to be the ones paying for it.

It’s also possible we see a few interesting battlegrounds on non-monetary issues. The idea of the league sneaking a couple of extra games or an extra round of playoffs isn’t a simple request and likely comes back to money. At the same time, it’s entirely possible that the NHLPA makes a case for fewer preseason games at the same time.

While negotiating a collective agreement is not as easy as rubber stamping the old one and moving on, there certainly seems to be mutual interest to move quickly. A deal between billionaire owners and millionaire players that have a short earnings window are going to lack some of the complexities of most labour disputes. That doesn’t mean that the NHL and NHLPA can’t prove us wrong and there are three labour stoppages in the past 30 years that support that pessimism, but even that they’ve started talking more than a year before the expiration of the CBA points to an amicable solution that Gary Bettman is probably wanting to announce before the Stanley Cup is presented.