EDMONTON — The state tax issue is not an issue, according to NHL officials who are currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement between the league’s owners and players.
“It’s certainly an issue that some of our franchises have raised as a concern,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Wednesday night in Edmonton, before the opening of the sixth straight Stanley Cup Final featuring a team from a tax-free state. “What I would say at this point is that we don’t share the level of concern that they have.
“These imbalances have been around forever. There’s nothing new here. There are so many reasons why a player might choose to play in a particular place, for a particular team, for a particular coach that have nothing to do with the fiscal situation of that market. So, I don’t expect that’s something we’ll proactively address in this collective bargaining process.”
That the well managed Florida Panthers took over the well-managed Tampa Bay Lightning and represented the tax-free Sunshine State in three straight Finals, and that Vegas Golden Knights – hailing from tax-free Nevada – have already appeared in three finals since their inception in 2017-18, with GMs and fans from high-tax provinces and states shouting “No fair!” »
NHLPA assistant general manager Ron Hainsey said he was “baffled” that state tax rates had become such a hot topic.
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“From 2008 to 2020, who ran this league? Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, for a brief period. Boston. Certainly (Brad) Marchand, (Patrice) Bergeron and (Zdeno) Chara could have made more money elsewhere. They didn’t. They chose to stay,” Hainsey said.
“They were a good team. They made the finals a few times. Pittsburgh – I’m sure Sid (Crosby) or Geno (Evgeni Malkin) or (Kris) Letang could have made more money somewhere else. They were there the whole time.
“Why? A good team. They liked where they lived. They didn’t want to move. Same thing in Los Angeles. What do they all have in common? They all have a different tax situation than Florida, right? That was 12 years. Now we’ve had six years of Tampa, Tampa, Tampa, Florida, Florida, Florida. Starting from the previous 12, I guess we have to wait another six years to see if there’s a problem, isn’t it?”
Winning championships doesn’t just rely on free agents taking haircuts they can offset with tax breaks. Panthers general manager Bill Zito stresses importance of committed ownership; build a winning and inclusive culture; and meeting needs through commerce.
“Taxation is marginal at best,” Zito said.
Incorporating a state and provincial tax clause into the salary cap would be complicated. Additionally, each NHL city has a different cost of living. And what about all those Canadians who receive paychecks in American dollars but pay their bills in Canadian currency?
Is the issue of no state taxes overblown?
“Guys like their paychecks to be bigger. I mean, I’m sure that could be part of it,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said. “But that’s the way it’s happening right now. You know, in 10 years you might see something else happening. I think it’s just a wave.
“Those teams also drafted well. You look at the players on some of those teams, they drafted them and they’ve been here their whole career. So, I don’t know. Maybe it’s been over-studied.”
Hainsey says the topic comes up sometimes within the Palestinian Authority, but he certainly thinks it’s overblown.
To cry foul because Florida and Tampa are having their moment here, where good players have taken less time to stay with good teams, is an overreaction, he says.
“It’s the same thing that happened over the previous 12 years, right? With all these other teams,” Hainsey said. “Is that really a problem? You know, I’m not sure it is at this point. I don’t know if we can expect Florida and Tampa not to be great at some point in the cycle.”
CBA discussions between commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA chief Marty Walsh will continue steadily through the Cup final – well ahead of the 2026 deadline.
“We have a very constructive, professional and cordial dialogue,” Bettman said. “We have over a year left and I think we are in very good shape and having very good discussions.”
Walsh did not set a timetable for when he expects a new collective agreement to be announced, but called the negotiations positive and ongoing.
“I feel good about where we are and we’ll see what happens,” Walsh said.
“All collective bargaining gets complicated at times, but it’s not like in the past here, where we see national conflicts between unions and companies.”
• The deal to send NHL players to the 2026 Olympics hasn’t been signed yet, but Walsh says it’s just a matter of “dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s.”
What has been decided, however, is that Russia will not participate, in line with the recent announcement made by the IIHF and the IOC.
“They’re disappointed – and it’s beyond their control,” Walsh said of his Russian contingent. “They can’t do much with what’s going on in Ukraine and Russia. And they want to play the best against the best. I mean, we hear it all the time.
“We were hoping that at this point the war conflict would no longer be where it is. It seems like it’s escalating instead of deescalating.”
• The NHL will not hold a formal bidding process for its next expansion, but it appears to be only a matter of time before a 33rd and 34th team joins the league.
“There are some (hopeful homeowners) we’ve talked to more than others,” Daly said. “But there’s a lot of interest, and I think we’re happy with that.”
Players are surely not happy with the fact that, under the current CBA, all those juicy expansion team fees go straight into the owners’ pockets and are not bundled with hockey-related revenues which are split 50/50.
Walsh bites his lip on the question: “We will cross that bridge when the time is right.” »
• Bettman maintains that, despite some rumors, he is not developing a succession plan for the commissioner’s president: “Sorry to disappoint.”
• Regarding the likelihood of returning to an in-person draft in 2026, Bettman said: “What we do will be in response to what clubs tell us they want.
• Don’t hold your breath during play-in rounds, extended overtimes, penalty jailbreaks or any other major changes to the game. “We don’t think there’s a need to change the rules,” Bettman said.
