from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

There’s been an ongoing discussion within the NHL Players’ Association about what to do with the players’ final paycheque, which is scheduled to be deposited into the players’ bank accounts on April 15.

The debate among players has been whether to forgo their final paycheque to start paying down the money they’re going to owe the owners in escrow. With the season interrupted and the overall hammering pro sports is taking due to the pause, the players are facing major paybacks next year.

One argument is, if the players are going to owe a large sum due to escrow, why not start now?...

In any case, there’s another executive board conference call set for Wednesday at which point a decision should be made.

If the players decide to give away the entirety of their last paycheque, you’re looking at about $140 million back into the system. Of course, they could decide to make it 50 percent or keep it at the current 14 percent escrow rate....

One team executive last week suggested to me that one idea that’s floating around is freezing the salary cap at $82.5 million for the next few years, so just a $1-million raise from the current $81.5 million. But that would still be significant given the expected losses in Hockey Related Revenue over the next year or two. Or three.

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