NEW YORK (AP) ― If the first bargaining session in eight days between the NHL and the players’ association made any headway, neither side tipped its hand.
A large contingent of players got together with league leadership on Monday night and met for under two hours.
Not a whole lot was accomplished on the road to a new agreement that could get the hockey season going, but at least there was optimism that the sides would get together again ― likely as soon as Tuesday.
“We talked about various things,” union executive director Donald Fehr said. “No new proposals were made, they were not expected to be made. We had hoped to engage them in a discussion about the player contracting issues that are so important to the players. At least tonight they were unwilling to do that.”
The league contends that it is waiting for the players to present a full proposal on all the major issues ― including core economics and player contracting, which deals with the entry-level system, arbitration and free agency. After the request was made, the players’ association asked for a break and the meeting adjourned soon after.
“We’ve never heard a full proposal from them,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “They have given us a variation of the same proposal on economics a couple of times and there was no change in that position. They are still suggesting that they are moving in our direction on economics, but until we know exactly what their position is on economics now, we think it’s all tied together and would like to hear it all together.
“It’s our position that we’ve made a couple comprehensive proposals in a row. We’d like to know where they are on all of the issues. We asked that they put together a comprehensive proposal for us to consider.”
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