from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

In fact, if I’m reading the tea leaves right, I believe the NHL’s Board of Directors before the Sept. 1, 2019 deadline, will vote not to re-open the current deal.

“Look, I’m not going to make the Board’s decision, and that decision doesn’t have to be made for a year,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “There are always things that can be improved and you want to improve in a CBA, but generally, I think the system has worked the way we hoped it would. It’s produced a great product on the ice, it’s produced unbelievable competitive balance, and I would say generally speaking, I think our Board is pretty satisfied with how the CBA has worked.’’

If indeed the owners vote to stay in the current deal, that will put the focus squarely on the players, who have until Sept. 15, 2019, two weeks later, to announce their intentions.

And that’s where it gets interesting.

“It is fair to say that the players understand the magnitude of the concessions that were made last time around,” said NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr. “And it’s front and centre in their memories.’’

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