NEWSLETTER
It’s always a fun time when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has a microphone in front of him. At the annual NHL Board of Governors meetings this week, Bettman addressed the media and touched on a number of topics that are pertinent in the NHL, including, most notably, the financial situations the NHL finds themselves in following the past few seasons being impacted by the ongoing COVID pandemic, as well as the upcoming Olympics and the current financial situation with the Arizona Coyotes.
But first, grandpa Gary’s got jokes…
Gary Bettman on his future as NHL commissioner: "I plan on being here for a long time so you're still stuck with me."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 10, 2021
Great.
The NHL’s first and only commissioner since 1992, Bettman has overseen the NHL’s continued growth for nearly 30 years. He has also overseen three work stoppages and has fumbled many, many unfortunate situations in and around the NHL and sport of hockey, most recently the sexual assault lawsuits and investigations surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks. But yes, we are stuck with him because his bosses, the NHL owners, have made more money with Bettman at the helm than at any other point in time over the past 30 years. Yay.
Speaking of making money, Bettman addressed the Hockey-Related Revenue (HRR) the league has generated since the shutdown in March of 2020. This season is tracking, according to Bettman, to be higher than the pre-pandemic projections of that season.
Gary Bettman says the #NHL is “tracking” to be over $5 billion in HRR revenue this season, which would put them ahead of where they were heading in 2019-20 before the pandemic.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 10, 2021
Which is good news for the players in the long-run, since being able to pay back the debt owed to the owners allows the league to experience greater increases to the salary cap down the road. As it stands now, it appears the next major salary cap increase would come before the 2024-25 season.
#NHL says the Players’ $1 billion debt to owners is expected to be paid off in three seasons, including this one, at which point the salary cap can be re-linked the HRR and rise dramatically.
In other words, it’s possible for a significant cap increase in 2024-25 season.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 10, 2021
For next season, the league expects a small, $1M increase to the salary cap from $81.5M to $82.5M. Which, while small, is still significant for some teams (the Blackhawks included) who are at or near the salary cap ceiling. Especially since the pandemic was initially expected to impact the league so much so that the NHL would see a flat-cap of $81.5M for multiple seasons.
Next year's NHL salary cap ceiling is projected to be $82.5M.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 10, 2021
As far as the current financial situation with the Arizona Coyotes, where they are behind by nearly 18 months of bills and unpaid taxes, Bettman says, “nothing to see here, folks.”
Bettman says there’s no issue with the Arizona Coyotes. Downplayed the concerns. “The Coyotes aren’t going anywhere,” Bettman said addressing rumours of the team moving to another market.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 10, 2021
The team announced, in response to the report from The Atheltic’s Katie Strang, that they had paid-up and was current on their payments to the City of Glendale. But that wasn’t entirely true, according to a report from The Hockey News’ Mike Stephens, where the City Manager of Glendale says the team is only paid through the 2020-21 season, not the current one. While the Coyotes are not in danger of being locked out of their arena any longer, at least for the time being, Bettman feels the City of Glendale is not handling the situation properly.
Bettman: “It’s clear that the City of Glendale has an edge or agenda in terms of how they’re dealing with the Coyotes.”
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 10, 2021
Yeah, how dare the City of Glendale be upset over *checks notes* 17 months of missed payments. What’s their problem?
When it comes to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the plan for the NHL is still to send players to the Games in February following the NHL All-Star break in Las Vegas. Recently, players have started to express concerns for the protocols and the environment they will experience while in Beijing. We’ve already seen Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner pull his name from consideration for Team Sweden. The league never wanted to send players to the Olympics in the first place, but the NHLPA pushed hard for the return to the Olympics and the NHL is moving forward as planned, for now.
Bettman: "a number of players are expressing concerns" about the Beijing Olympics and quarantine issues, but says NHL will go if players want to go.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) December 10, 2021
One thing that the league and Bettman says could come back and potentially take the place of the NHL sending players to the Olympics is the World Cup of Hockey. Held prior to the NHL regular season, the World Cup of Hockey has been held three times in 1996, 2004, and most recently in 2016, and is unlike other international tournaments since it is overseen by the NHL and NHLPA rather than the IIHF. As for future tournaments, that’s not currently an issue the league is discussing.
Gary Bettman says the NHL/NHLPA remain interested in reviving the World Cup of Hockey "when we can come up for air."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 10, 2021
The tournament was wildly successful in its return prior to the 2016 season, and if the league, the IIHF, and the IOC continue to have a contentious relationship over sending the best Men’s players in the world to the Olympics, the biggest international tournament in the world, then the league may as well hold their own tournament, on their own terms, with the best players in the world.
