NHLPA's Plan B is to wait it out, see the next offer or public outcry by the NHL and begin to go forward on that front. Be it a new offer or declaring an impasse and implementation.
If the NHL declares an impasse and implements before September, the NHPA will be fighting hard and will have a great shot to prove the NHL's plan all along was to hold out until they could break the union and force a new agreement on the players.
I can tell you this, the hard-liners, who want to break the union because they have this hatred for Bob Goodenow, will force Bettman to offer a proposal that will shock the NHLPA.
I expect a salary cap linkage system that will start without a minimum payroll and have a maximum around $28 million. Then after that season is played, the NHL will begin the linkage of around 53%.
Which if you look at the projected revenues could be devasting for players, a $1.5 billion pot is $26.5 million maximum hard cap. A $1 billion industry is $17 million maximum.
Such revenues and percentages would force minimum contracts to be around $150,000 and entry-level contracts to go from NHLPA's $850,000 base salary plus bonuses to NHL"s possible offer of a strict base salary of $500,000 or lower depending on the round a player was selected.
It gets worse for players, owners hate arbitration, maybe more than they hate Goodenow. If impasse comes, arbitration is gone.
Those 100 and 110 percent qualifying offers will be a distant memory for the 75 percent that will go for any player after his four years have been served under the entry level system.
Owners knows, no arbitration will mean more unsigned holdouts so to protect themselves from they will bar any player from joining the league after a certain date, which will force agents to work quickly to get a deal for their client before the cap is maxed out.
One thing owners may do is go the NFL route and no longer have guaranteed standard contracts or maybe the league goes with a less evil plan to have the buyouts at 25% of the value of the contract.
I have absolute disgust and disdain for the owners who used Gretzky and Lemieux to further their agenda but I have even more doubts about the leadership of the NHLPA to seriously believe a deal could get any worse than this weekend because the
is in the details.
Players will lose big time if the NHL goes with some strict cap and systemic changes and it gets even worse if impasse implementation is used.