from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

During a time of COVID-19 spikes, rising numbers of positive tests across all sports and the clock ticking closer to the scheduled July 10 opening of NHL camps, players will be soon voting on a CBA extension.

According to multiple sources, the potential agreement between the NHL and NHLPA caps escrow at 20 per cent for the 2020-21 season. Original guesstimates were escrow at 35 per cent if this year did not finish, 27-28 even if it did.

But there is a second layer: a one-season-only 10 per cent salary deferral by every player. I’m told this is not a rollback. Players will be returned that money in the future. The benefit to them is the escrow on it would be lower.

These are elements of a much more complicated puzzle. One source compared it to a “payment plan you might negotiate with your credit card company.” From an ownership perspective, every dollar owed the teams on the 50-50 revenue split will be repaid over the balance of the CBA.

As part of the agreement, the salary cap will be kept close to the current $81.5 million for the next three seasons. There is potential for it to go up $1 million in 2022-23.

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