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Daly expects negotiating to resume this week

Gary Bettman; Bill Daly

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, left, arrives with deputy commissioner Bill Daly, right, as the NHL and its locked-out player resume negotiations in Toronto on Wednesday Oct. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

AP

Nothing is officially planned yet, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly expects collective bargaining to resume this week, according to an email he wrote to QMI Agency.

The league and players last met on Wednesday when the NHLPA submitted a new proposal that, according to union leader Donald Fehr, was met with “no reciprocity” from the NHL.

Commissioner Gary Bettman sounded a slightly more optimistic tone following Wednesday’s meeting, though he admitted the two sides remained “far apart.”

Two issues remain at the forefront of the dispute. The first is money. The NHLPA claims the two sides are just $182 million apart over the life of the players’ five-year offer.

The second is contract rights. The league wants to end back-diving deals, cap contract lengths at five years and for players to become eligible for unrestricted free agency a year later than under the last CBA. The union, meanwhile, wants things to stay more or less the same, though it did propose a way to punish teams that front-load deals in order to subvert the spirit of the salary cap.