from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,
It’s not about make-whole money. It’s about control. It’s about the attempt, most notably, of Canceler-in-Chief Gary Bettman, Jacobs, and counsel Bob Batterman to shape the NHL in their own shortsighted image.
This is about the NHL attempting to both minimize the bargaining power of every player in the league and all but eliminate the maneuverability of general managers in the market.
It is one thing to eliminate the type of dramatic front-loaded contracts that do in fact eliminate low-revenue franchises from the mix. It is quite another to force every player and GM into a five-year straitjacket.
And it is even quite another for the league to use this collective bargaining agreement to attempt to institute the most rigid contract and freedom restrictions in pro sports, this by the way coming off the previous seven-year collective bargaining agreement that produced seven different Stanley Cup winners and 19 different conference finalists.
This isn’t about competitive balance. This is about raw power. This is about hypocrisy. The floor is yours, Messrs. Chapman and Jacobs.
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