His nature as a negotiator for player contracts is to come to amenable figures both sides can ruminate over fairly quickly. Bartlett is also not a raving cheerleader for the NHLPA. What he’s always been is a reasoned observer. He’s in business to get his clients contracts, but he watched the owners in a frenzy to get players signed before the lockout on Saturday night and shook his head as about $200 million in contracts were handed out. This is coming from a league that maintains it needs its players to take pay cuts.

“This is like a store having a sale on a Monday and people going in on a Sunday and buying as many items as they can? Why?” said Bartlett.

And it sounds like the lawyer in Bartlett wants to see the NHL and PA work out a CBA in court:

“I wouldn’t mind seeing even non-binding arbitration to try and break the stalemate, just to give the feeling of an outside person offering their opinion,” said Bartlett.

The players want the owners to share more of their revenue — the strong helping the weak.

“I saw one (analogy) where somebody suggested, ‘Why would a successful nail factory help out one that was less successful ?’ … But you can’t have a monopoly in a hockey league,” said Bartlett.

Continued...