The NHL and the NHL Players' Association are headed to the bargaining table.
Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that the two sides will begin discussing the next collective bargaining agreement in the first week of April.
The current CBA was ratified in January 2013 after a four-month lockout disrupted the 2012-13 season. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the CBA was extended as part of a memorandum of understanding that included a separate agreement outlining the bubble playoffs that took place that summer.
The CBA will expire in September 2026. Bettman declined to get into specific issues that will be tabled during negotiations but seemed optimistic that the process would go smoothly.
"I don't think on either side we're looking at fundamental issues," Bettman said. "I'm anticipating, based on everything I'm hearing from (NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh), that we'll have good discussions and I'm hoping we can do this quickly, quietly and painlessly."
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