Brooks: NHL not committed to contract term limits, open to amnesty buyouts

The NHL and NHLPA continue to meet in an undisclosed location in New York City, but Larry Brooks of the New York Post has details of what the NHL is willing to do to help get a deal done with the union.

In a series of tweets, Brooks’ sources tell him the league is not committed to contract term limits but is looking to put an end to front-loaded deals. Remember the NHL’s offer back in mid-October had a five-year limit on contracts.

Another huge thing that’s come up are amnesty buyouts. Brooks says those are back on the negotiating table and they were a key component of the CBA the two sides struck in 2005.

As for the “make whole” issue, Brooks says the NHL would assume the entire amount with a portion of it deferred but was unclear if that applied only to the first two years. The latter point of that could be a major sticking point in the process.

If the players’ union goes along with either plan, however, that would remove a major roadblock to getting a deal done. The league initially wanted the players to shoulder some of the load on the “make whole” provision.