At His Preseason Press Conference Gary Bettman said he would like to be able to announce a new CBA at the Stanley Cup Final in June which would be 15 months before the current agreement expires. The final year season of the agreement calls for the salary cap to rise to approximately 92 million, Elliotte Friedman mentioned one of the sweeteners that might get the deal done faster with the NHLPA is cancelling the final year of the year of the current CBA and allowing the cap to increase more than the current projection of 92 million.
Ryan Kennedy mentioned a suggestion that has been floated is allowing players drafted from the CHL to be eligible for the AHL at age 19. The NHL and CHL extended their agreement during Covid, but there will be pressure on the CHL to allow the change given the pending NCAA-CHL Player Agreement.
Finally Pierre LeBrun mentioned there a push to allow NHL Teams to have a third goalie who would be able to be assigned to the AHL without clearing waivers.
I doubt a guaranteed playoff berth at least once every 6 years for a certain team located in WNY would be on the table but we can dream.
What other changes would you like to see made to the next CBA?