NHL’s upcoming CBA talks should feel a lot different with soft target date set

When wearable technology replaces escrow as a hot-button topic in the NHLPA’s fall tour, you know this is not Bob Goodenow’s union anymore.

And when Ninth Avenue appears amenable to extending the current CBA in principle well ahead of its September 2026 expiration date rather than demanding givebacks, you know this is not 1994, 2004, 2012 or even 2020 anymore, either.

The partnership between the NHL and NHLPA seems more substantial and healthier than in decades, if not in the history of the association since legendary founding fathers Ted Lindsay and Doug Harvey risked their livelihoods to form a union in the late 1950s.

This may not be a particularly militant group, but it has become engaged and educated under the Marty Walsh-Ron Hainsey administration that has reached out across the aisle in forming a constructive relationship and dialogue with Gary Bettman, Bill Daly and the Board.