Ron Hainsey and Marty Walsh of the NHLPA along with Gary Bettman and Bill Daly of the NHL announce a tentative CBA agreement (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Fresh off a red-eye flight back from Los Angeles and the 2025 NHL Entry Draft at the Peacock Theater, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly was too happy to be tired.
Daly, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh and Assistant Executive Director Ron Hainsey were able to come to a tentative agreement on an extension of the current CBA, which was extended in 2020.
“It was massive for us to be able to push that momentum forward instead of interrupting it, and I think both parties came to the table with that mindset,” Daly told RG by phone early Sunday afternoon.
Daly, the NHL’s lead negotiator during the lockout that led to the cancellation of the 2004–05 season and ushered in the salary cap era, was named deputy commissioner shortly after. He later led negotiations during the lockout that cut 60 percent of the 2012–13 regular season. Seven years later, just months after the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs were played in bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton due to COVID-19, Daly, the NHL and the NHLPA extended the CBA signed in 2013 for four more years. The new extension will take effect with the 2026–27 season and run through the 2029–30 season.
According to Daly, the harmony and chemistry among Bettman, Walsh, Hainsey and himself were refreshing—and a key factor in the rapid progress that led to the agreement in principle.
“It’s different for sure, and I guess what’s been gratifying about this process compared to other processes is that we all shared a goal to get to a finish line,” Daly said.
“As Gary said, and Marty said numerous times, it’s not like we agreed on everything. There are certain things we asked for that we didn’t get, and certain things that they asked for and didn’t get, but we never had a negative day. I think we had around 10 formal bargaining sessions, and we made progress in each session we had. I never came away from a bargaining session once thinking, ‘We’re not going to get this done,’ because we just kept pushing it forward, which was very refreshing.
“I can’t say that for past negotiations, but obviously, each negotiation is different. That’s not to disparage what we’ve been through over time, but this was different. There was never a real timing concern for us. We knew it would get done; we just needed to make sure we were dotting all the i’s.”
Daly appreciated Walsh’s approach to the negotiations and passion for the game.
“He’s a very practical guy,” Daly said of his NHLPA counterpart.
“He’s not about ideology or anything like that. He wanted to negotiate something that had a concrete benefit to the players, and that was very clear from Day 1. He certainly understood the nature of our system from Day 1, and that helped us all work together to grow the value of the business. And if we do that, he knows the players will benefit. I can’t say the original union that negotiated this deal had the same understanding of how that works, but Marty had it from Day 1.”
The agreement in principle is up for ratification now, and a formal announcement on the extension is expected soon.
James Murphy
