Meeting of the Managers

It's been two years since NHL general managers met in person for their annual in-season March meeting to discuss the business of the game, particularly as it relates to hockey operations from trades to salary cap to on-ice officiating. There were 11 new faces in the room at a Palm Beach area hotel, including Kraken GM Ron Francis.
The agenda for Monday and Tuesday featured a number of items raised by the general managers themselves or league executives. The topics discussed are typically the starting point for broader discussions with the NHL Players' Association and the NHL Board of Governors (ownership representatives for each of the 32 teams) to explore any changes to improve the sport on the ice and establish competitive balance among teams.

The most concrete news of the two days is NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly reporting to the GMs the league's salary cap (the maximum money a franchise can spend for the contracts of the active 23-man roster) will increase $1 million for the 2022-23 season. It is essentially the expected "flat cap" anticipated to be in place for the next three seasons as NHL teams and the NHLPA (revenues are shared with players by collective bargaining agreement) recover lost revenues from two seasons highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meeting with the media, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman explained a $1 million annual increase in each of the next three season is part of the flat-cap plan devised once the adverse financial impact of the pandemic was fully realized. The cap for next season will be $82.5 million, up from the $81.5 million per the last two seasons.
The cap is then expected to be $83.5 million in 2023-24 and $84.5 million in 2024-25. The salary cap will likely rise significantly following the 2024-25 season once the players and owners have settled financial concessions made to keep the league operating at acceptable revenue and salary levels during the strife of fewer games and deep loss of in-arena attendance.
For would-be general managers among us, the news means the Kraken still possess a competitive advantage of salary cap room shared by only a handful of other NHL franchises. It affords Seattle to be in good position for attracting free agents this summer and the summer of 2023, deciding on how to spend against a predictable salary cap without too many large contracts already on the books.
The GMs discussed a proposal to institute a salary cap limit for the NHL playoffs. There is no cap enforcement during the postseason with the idea that injuries could deplete a roster and that team's chances to win the Stanley Cup.
Bettman said the GMs don't see that postseason adjustment necessary, even if public "perception" is some teams have "parked" a star player on long-term injured reserve, only to activate the injured player for the start of the playoffs. Any change will definitely not be part of the upcoming postseason, yet appears to be a topic to be revisited this summer.
Daly explained the league monitors all long-term injuries as part of the trade deadline process, asking for medical reports and hiring independent medical experts to determine if a player remains on the injured reserve list longer than his recovery from the injury.
A number of topics were presented and debated:
- The league reported scoring statistics are on pace for a historic season, including an average of 6.2 goals per game, the highest number in a quarter-century. The percentage of even-strength scoring is 78 percent, the highest since the 1972-73 season. Plus, 41 percent of all NHL wins this season have been comeback victories, which is trending to be top-five all-time.

• An update from league vice president and director of officiating, Stephen Walkom, reported on the performance of referees and linesmen this season. Some media reports characterized the discussion as spirited, while Bettman said "there was no pushback whatsoever" and that Walkom also discussed how new officials are developed and the system for critiquing and reviewing all performances.

• Kim Davis, NHL senior executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs, presented on an online training tool for franchises to eliminate staff abuse, bullying, harassment and discrimination in team organizational culture. The training program developed in partnership with Respect Group, co-founded by former NHL player Sheldon Kennedy, a long-time advocate and voice in the space.

• Davis created a panel of three GMs (Toronto's Kyle Dubas, Winnipeg's Kevin Cheveldayoff and Dallas' Jim Nil) and Kennedy to prompt a relevant conversation among the general managers present.

"The questions and discussion was very rich," said Kennedy during a TSN interview. "It was more open and honest than I expected. This group might be perceived as shut off. Not at all."

Kennedy said Respect Group intends to educate and inform about abuse, bullying, harassment and discrimination in the hockey community.

"It's about what is and what isn't," said Kennedy. "There's almost a paranoia and people do nothing. We want to breakdown the issues to the most common denominator. We aim to make good people better, to empower the bystanders."

The Winnipeg Jets organization from players to hockey operations executives to coaches and all staff have completed the Respect Group online training. The other six Canada-based teams are due to complete the course by June 30 and a U.S.-centric version of the program will be ready in time so all U.S. teams can complete it before next season begins.

• Bettman and Daly said the league is in the "embryonic stage" of planning a 2024 World Cup of Hockey in which only national teams will be participating. There will be no Young North America or Team Europe. Which countries are part of the international competition is to be determined.