It’s officially Day One of the 2024-25 NHL season, hockey fans! Camps are opening all over the league. The Blackhawks open camp tomorrow, officially, with their first practice and general manager Kyle Davidson speaking with the media. Maybe we’ll also hear from new captain Nick Foligno as well.
Let’s take another lap around the league — this one isn’t quick — to catch up on some rumblings and happenings in the NHL. Columbus is going to honor Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, there’s more buzz about the rising cap ceiling and deferred compensation and Rogers bought an additional chunk of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. Lots to cover, so let’s get into it.
Honoring Johnny Hockey
On Wednesday morning, the Columbus Blue Jackets announc⭕ed their preliminary plans to honor the lives of Johnny and Matthew Gaudr💛eau.
Cautious Cap Ceiling Climbing?
I wanted to double back to a comment in Monday’s written column from Elliotte Friedman because it stood out to me. Friedman noted that some agents have been looking at/preferring shorter term deals right now because of expected significant jumps in the cap ceiling in coming years; a $9M AAV today might not feel as big in 4 years when the cap ceiling is over $100M. Friedman explains owners might want to cap the annual increases; the players aren’t having it — not yet. The current CBA expires in 2026.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league and the players have not discussed the idea of “smoothing” any potential bump at that time. The CBA indicates the cap should be around $92M next season, the final one of the current deal. Comparing the NHL to the NBA is not apples to apples, but here’s an illustration of what it means: In 2016, the NBA suggested spreading out a major leap, but were rejected by the union. The upper limit rose by $32M. However, in their new CBA, both agreed to increases no higher than 10 per cent season-to-season. If you’re wondering why NHL players might even consider agreeing to that, it’s to make sure more than one free-agent class benefits. We will see what the membership says.
This got me thinking for a couple reasons this week. First, the NBA initially being against it but then coalesced. Second, the NHL’s ceiling is so far behind all of the other major sports that it would make sense is hockey players wanted their richest contracts to not be the same dollar amounts as… utility infielders and the third guy coming off an NBA bench.
Then this also happened on Monday:
Keep in mind: Connor Bedard‘s next contract begins in the 2026-27 season… I do wonder how he and his agent will approach the first potential long-term deal of his young career. He’s always looked up to Crosby. And he’ll also undoubtedly recognize that a max eight-year extension would have him signed until he’s… still in his late-20s…
Deferred Compensation Comments
One more note from on Monday (that has also been percolating in my brain because of Bedard’s next contract already). He wrote this about Seth Jarvis’ new contract with Carolina and the deferred compensation included:
Seth Jarvis’s deferred contract raised a lot of interꦏesting questꩵions about where things could go. Most agents said they would recommend not following this path, as money now is worth more than money later. One player who lives in a high-tax state said he explored it until after he retired for tax reasons, but was advised not to do so.
What’s clear is that Jarvis’s representative (Gerry Johanns💛on) and the NHLPA made sure his deferred money was protected, while the team worked with the league to make sure no CBA rules were broken. Daly mentioned one example: contract variability. There are rules limiting how much each season’s salary in a contract can change. Vegas pitched Jonathan Marchessault on deferred payments, which renewed discussion of this possibility around the league. The tweak Carolina made was to move the deferred money immediately to the end of Jarvis’s upcoming eight-year term. Marchessault would not have collected for a much longer period of time.
Rogers Buys Stake in Maple Leafs
In major media/NHL ownership news, Rogers has reportedly acquired a 37.5 percent stake in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment at a massive valuation. It’s noteworthy that MLSE is the parent company of the Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors, MLS’ Toronto FC and the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts.
From the story below:
Rogers already owned 37.5% of MLSE, and it putsꦇ a total valuation on the entity of $9.3 billion. Rogers also owns the Toronto Blue Jays, who are worth $2.27 billion, according to Sportico. Larry Tanenbaum owns the remaining 25% stake in MLSE, which also includes the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts.
Canucks Cancer Scare
Dakota Joshua, who I identified early in the summer as a guy I would love to see on the Blackhawks before he re-signed in Vancouver, shared some scary news on Tuesday. He won’t be ready for the start of training camp, but that feels awfully secondary to the reality he was dealing with this summer. Thankfully it was found and dealt with. Here’s hoping for a long, healthy career and life for Joshua who’s become a really good player for the Canucks.
Modest Michkov Enthusiasm
Flyers GM Danny Briere was cautious with his outlook for star prospect Matvei Michkov when he spoke with reporters on Tuesday. I’m sure privately he’s hoping for a Bedard-like season from the Russian who some considered the second-best prospect in the 2023 NHL Draft class.
