from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

I traded texts with a player on Thursday about the NHL's offer to extend the 2013 collective bargaining agreement by three years in exchange for Olympic participation, and he said what I think many players are thinking: Sure, he’d be interested in the offer if the league was also interested in capping escrow in some form.

The NHL, however, has zero interest in tweaking escrow -- a provision in the CBA meant to ensure that hockey-related revenue is split between the players and the franchise owners -- at this point, and perhaps never. It sees escrow as essential to making the 50-50 split work. But there’s no question that the NHL players' association is looking at its cousins in the NBA, where escrow is capped at 10 percent, and saying, "Why can’t we get that in the next CBA?'

What's the difference between the NHL and NBA? There's hard cap in the NHL, a soft cap in the NBA.

continued