MANALAPAN, Florida — NHL general managers completed three days of meetings Wednesday, and Commissioner Gary Bettman said the group came away feeling like the game is in good shape, with strong revenue and an exciting run to the Cup playoffs Stanley.
“We talked about a lot of little tweaks that we could focus on to maybe make things a little smoother, but nothing that I would call a problem,” Bettman said. “I think we’re in a good place and we can’t wait to get down the stretch and start the playoffs.”
On Tuesday, general managers voted to propose several minor adjustments to the rules, including allowing penalties subject to coach challenges to include delay of game penalties for pucks shot over the glass and certain high-sticking minors.
Proposals are then submitted to the NHL/NHLPA Competition Committee for approval, before being ratified by the NHL Board of Governors.
Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly addressed a number of other topics during their post-meeting news conference.
Reserve for long-term injured
This topic was not on the meeting agenda as it is a collectively negotiated issue involving the NHL Players’ Association, but the use of LTIR for injured players regarding the salary cap was discussed Sunday when the six members of the general managers’ executive committee met with Bettman and Daly.
Daly said the topic was discussed briefly and he asked executive committee members to speak to the entire group of general managers to get their pulse and whether they think it needs to be addressed.
The executive committee, which is in its second year of existence, is made up of Doug Armstrong (St. Louis Blues), Kevin Cheveldayoff (Winnipeg Jets), Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings), Lou Lamoriello (New York Islanders), Ken Holland (Edmonton Oilers) and Don Waddell (Carolina Hurricanes).
“It literally lasted for maybe 90 seconds, and that’s what I came up with as a possible way for us to talk about it,” Daly said. “So, they’ve started talking to the managers and they’re going to get back to us.”
Bettman said he doesn’t believe any team is abusing the LTIR provision that allows them to go over the salary cap, if necessary, if they have players on LTIR.
He said the NHL closely monitors LTIR players, especially in cases where they use it to replace players before the playoffs. Daly said the league is retaining an independent third-party physician to confirm medical records and will conduct a physical examination if necessary.
“Genuine injuries and doing what we need to do to make sure those injuries were genuine during the time period that the ILT was applicable,” Bettman said.
There is no salary cap during the playoffs, so after the regular season, teams can activate a player off LTIR without cap constraints provided he has met the LTIR requirements, which misses 10 games and 24 days.
“I think everyone is happy with the fact that at least so far there hasn’t been any backlash in that regard,” Bettman said. “The collective agreement was negotiated almost 20 years ago and certain provisions were added that made sense at the time and continue to make sense. Players’ Association.”
Daly said he informed the NHLPA that LTIR would be a topic of conversation at meetings this week.
“They are aware of it and we will see how, if at all, we need to address it,” Daly said.
Face to face of the 4 Nations
Daly outlined the schedule for next season’s 2025 NHL 4 Nations Showdown which will feature the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland from February 12-20.
The final NHL games before the 4 Nations showdown will take place on February 9, Super Bowl Sunday. The four competing teams will practice on February 10 and 11 and the tournament will begin on February 12.
Daly said the two North American cities that will host the tournament have not yet been finalized, but the league is close to doing so.
Players who will not participate in the 4 Nations showdown will have an eight-day break, from February 9-17, before returning to training with their NHL teams on February 18.
The NHL schedule will resume on February 22.
Projected income
Bettman said projected hockey-related revenues for the 2023-24 season are $6.2 billion. HRR is always calculated in US dollars.
“It’s pretty much what we expected,” Bettman said. “We expected a strong and dynamic season and it has been the case from a business point of view.”
