from James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail,

... And the answer to how to settle this thing is with a new agreement neither side is going to like all that much.

Step 1: Let the players keep the $1.87-billion they earned last season – and not a penny more.

The union’s offer comes with a 2 per cent raise in Year 1, but it’s become clear in negotiations that that’s just not going to fly.

And the league wants players to take a big pay cut via escrow next season that won’t work either.

The players have dug in on this one, and it’s really not too much to ask in Year 1 of the deal. If NHL revenues grow at 6.3 per cent (which is roughly what they’ve averaged the last eight years minus the effects of the Canadian dollar), that $1.87-billion will drop the players’ share to 53.6 per cent.

And it’ll slowly trail down from there.

Step 2: Allow the players small raises of 3 per cent annually between Years 2 and 5. That’s salary growth that should easily be outstripped by revenue growth.

Basically what that means is that if revenues grow at 6.3 per cent a year, the players’ share would decline from 53.6 per cent to 52.0, 50.4, 48.8 and 47.3 over the first five years of the agreement.

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