Key Takeaways
- The NHL and NHLPA agreed on a new CBA that will go into effect in September of 2026.
- NHLPA executive Marty Walsh sat down with RG and discussed the process and how the CBA changes will shake things up across the league.
- Walsh is optimistic that the new-look CBA, when implemented, will improve the NHL as a whole in a variety of ways.
Ron Hainsey and Marty Walsh of the NHLPA along with Gary Bettman and Bill Daly (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The NHL and NHLPA have officially ratified a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that will go into effect on September 16, 2026, and expire in 2030.
Just before the new CBA was signed and then ratified, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly praised NHLPA Executive Director Marty Walsh and his right-hand man, Ron Hainsey, for their part in arguably the most harmonious NHL labor negotiations ever.
“I can’t say that for past negotiations, but obviously, each negotiation is different,” Daly told RG in an exclusive interview last month. “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.”
In a recent interview with RG, Walsh did the same for Daly and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and also got into the nitty gritty of the negotiations and some of the new changes the new CBA will bring.
On the harmonious negotiations:
“We were working at it consistently, and we were in constant communication,” Walsh said. “The NHL’s team and our team at the NHLPA we worked together, and then we broke our own committees down into specific groups. Then our groups would come back with their solutions and proposals, and then Gary, Bill, Ron, and I would iron out the agreements.”
“We set the rules early - Gary and I - that if there was a disagreement, we would work through it and iron it out,” Walsh continued. “Let’s not make this personal, and we didn’t at all. I think when you set the ground rules like that in any negotiations, I’ve found that in my time negotiating, when you have two willing and participating parties that sit down, they’re going to obviously have disagreements, but don’t make it personal, and it goes a lot smoother. So I felt it was a really good and productive process, and at the end of the day, we got a deal done.”
On signing bonuses, limitations, wins, and losses for the players:
“The signing bonuses, yes, are more limited now, but they’re still there,” Walsh said. “When you think about removing workers’ comp off the players’ share, removing payroll taxes off the players’ share, increasing the former players’ fund over the term of this contract to over $40 million. In order to get wins on whatever side you are, you have to give something up. So when you think about that, going to 84 games, the league wanted that, but they gave some things up, too. …neck guards. …well, actually, both of us wanted that. That’s a health and safety issue that’s important moving forward.
The retiree plans for current and former players were addressed, with more money going forward. We wanted to make sure that our players, when they’re done playing in the league, and the players that have played in the past, that they’re taken care of. So, we were able to increase subsidies for retired players who don’t have health insurance to work with the NHL Alumni Association. We got $2 million from the players and $2 million from the owners. So, that’s a win there.
Then we increased our minimum salary. It will be increased from $775,000 to a million by the end of this new agreement. We increased the travel benefits and stuff like that, and smaller stuff that people probably don’t pay attention to, but is quality of life for the players.”
On the 84-game season and shortened training camp:
“We had to make sure the preseason and training camp were shortened because now that we’re playing two extra games, and then you factor in the Olympics, that’s more wear and tear on the body, and then the mental struggle that players go through, so we needed to make sure we got that agreed upon,” Walsh said. “Again, the Olympic schedule and the World Cup schedule are now going to be more taxing for the players because they’re going to be playing a lot more hockey than they normally would’ve.”
Was there one singular thing that the players said to you, ‘If you can get anything, this is the most important thing we need’?
“No, that wasn’t this negotiation,” Walsh said. “Certainly, when I first took over the PA, and I saw that the players were playing the employee payroll tax, and workers’ comp, I just thought that was not right. I mean, there shouldn’t be any employees in America who are paying for those. So, I thought that those two things jumped out at me. It’s interesting because we had already agreed upon the salary cap going up over the next four years, and some of the stuff that would’ve been conversations, we already did it. We had done a lot throughout the past year, and there were a lot of conversations where we came to an agreement on that would be incorporated in the final document, but they’re already agreed upon.”
Did reaching an agreement on such important topics so early in the process, help you tackle more minute issues later on?
“Yes, minute to the general public but important to individual payers,” Walsh said. “The comps for ELS players - you’ll see it in the MOU - single rooms for ELS on the road, improving travel. Stuff like that, that doesn’t impact every single player on the team, but impacts certain players. This is the stuff that we heard when we did our fall tour, and we obviously listened to what the players had to say, and we documented it.
So that’s all part of the collective bargaining, and I could pick up the phone and call Gary, or Ron [Hainsey] can call Bill [Daly], and we can get a lot of stuff done that way, too. There was an open line of communication. It’s not part of the contract, but when the partnership with the V Foundation (Hockey Fights Cancer) happened with the league, Gary called me up and told me how important this was to get this done, we went on and we said ‘Yes’ but we wanted to make sure that we didn’t forget the Canadian and American cancer society.
So, things like that happened throughout the year, and having that open dialogue changes the way that negotiations happen and where you see breakdowns, generally, is when the employer and the union have no conversations throughout the year and when it comes time to sit at the table, there can be a lot of hard feelings built up by then. My style is to try and keep an open line of communication throughout the year, check in on each other. Myself and Gary Bettman, we don’t talk every day, but we’ll check in periodically in a quiet time like now, with the summer going on, but when the season starts, we check in to see if there’s anything we need to address. If there’s a problem on a team, we can call them directly. If they feel there’s something that they need to address, they call us directly.
Given the history of animosity between the players and the owners, how much did the lack of it and willingness to get this done so fast impress you?
“Look, I’m not going to criticize my predecessors,” Walsh replied bluntly. “My style is communication. When I was being interviewed for the job, I told the players that I wanted to be in constant communication, not calling them every day, but constant communication throughout the course of the year. I’m two years into this now, and last year, I tried to see the players 2-3 times throughout the course of the year. I think having that face time is key. They need to know who I am and who we are as a union. They need to know what’s going on.
There’s constant communication between the player reps and our team to work with the players individually. Ron Hainsey, myself, Jay Harrison, and our team do our best to stay connected to the players. You have to stay connected to your membership. Once you make a decision not to stay connected to your membership, there’s going to be a problem. This is nothing new to me. When I was the Mayor of Boston, I tried to stay as close to the constituency as possible, and be available and seen. If you do that, it always makes for a better situation.”
On the importance of Ron Hainsey:
“Having Ron Hainsey as my teammate and a former player is so helpful,” Walsh said. “He can talk to the players in a way that I can’t. I can talk about collective bargaining and the business side of it, but Ron can actually put himself in the locker room when they’re talking about scheduling and things like that. He’s in there and he’s done it for a long time, so I think having a team approach to it is really important and helps the relationships in a big way.”
Do you think under the new CBA we will see more player movement than we have?
So those are increases that we haven’t seen in hockey, maybe like they have in basketball, but for us, it’s also making sure that the escrow. …the players aren’t paying, but they’re actually getting their contracts that they signed and not having money taken back. For years, players paid the escrow, and they never got the money back. So right now, we’re in a good place and we’re looking like it can get better, assuming the economy stays good, the revenue stays good, everything stays good.”
On his optimism going forward in future negotiations:
“It’s going to depend on how the players feel and what they want,” Walsh pointed out. “I wanted a four-year deal for a reason. Ten-year deals are great for stability and predictability, and for the league, and lockout and strike protection, and I didn’t go for a four-year deal to go against that thought process. I went for it to see where we are as a league and union in four years, and if there’s something the players want us to fight for, then we will.”
