Daly speaks of “slow progress” as marathon meeting continues

The NHL and NHLPA’s latest negotiating session has dragged on for more than seven hours and has resulted in “slow progress,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Star Tribune.

“We hope to continue meeting to resolve as many open issues as we possibly can in pursuit of an agreement,” Daly added.

One area where there seems to have been movement on is the 2013-14 salary cap.

The NHL was reportedly seeking a $60 million cap, but it had since moved in the NHLPA’s direction. In turn, the union was originally hoping for a $67.5 million upper limit, but later moved to $65 million and is now reportedly willing to settle at $64.3 million, according to TSN’s Aaron Ward.

If $64.3 million sounds like an odd number to you, remember that was the salary cap in 2011-12.

Sportsnet’s John Shannon estimated that there’s still 2-3 major issues that need to be resolved, including the variance of contracts.

Meanwhile the players once again voted to give the NHLPA executive board the authority to file a disclaimer of interest. However, it looks like they are currently more focused on the negotiations.