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Latest escrow payments ease pain of lost checks

Brad Richards

Brad Richards #19 of the New York Rangers controls the puck in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Final against the New Jersey Devils during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Prudential Center on May 21, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey. (May 20, 2012 - Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)

One hopeful fan theory is that the CBA discussions will heat up once players start losing paychecks, but escrow earnings might ease some of the tension.

Players missed the second checks from the would-be 2012-13 season on Monday, but they got a healthy 7.98 percent of last year’s earnings - plus interest - on Tuesday, according to Chris Johnston of the Canadian Press.

Johnston maps out what this means financially for a given player, so we don’t have to all that stuffy math:

The escrow payments amount to about $80,000 for every million dollars a player earned — before deductions. For example, New York Rangers forward Brad Richards grossed approximately $960,000 after being the league’s highest-paid player last season.

That could mean a nice bit of relief for players (even if that was merely money taken from last season’s checks), whether they’re making a bit of cash overseas or they’re on “kid duty” like Joe Corvo.

It certainly doesn’t ease overall worries during a week in which the 2013 Winter Classic is reportedly in danger of being canceled, though

Just like Monday night, there’s nothing new to report even if the two sides continue to speak, according to Johnston and others.

Related: Players must ask themselves: is it worth it?