NHL, NHLPA to Open CBA Talks in 2025; Will Discuss Expanded Regular-Season Schedule

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says the league will begin negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with players as soon as January 2025, Greg Wyshynski reported for ESPN.

The current CBA was ratified by the NHL Players' Association in 2013 and extended in 2020. It is set to expire on Sept. 15, 2026.

NHL schedules have featured 82 regular-season games since 1995. Bettman said expanding that number while reducing the preseason slate will be on owners' "list of things to think about," per Wyshynski.

The NHL has reportedly been considering expanding its schedule since at least December 2022, when Wyshynski reported for ESPN that the league had "discussed" stretching the regular season to 84 games.

These talks started after "some teams complained about an imbalanced number of divisional games against rivals," with the additional two games theoretically used to ensure each team could face divisional opponents four times per season, Wyshynski wrote in 2022.

Any regular-season schedule expansion would likely include a shortening of the preseason, Wyshynski noted.

Bettman said during the NHL's board of governors meeting on Tuesday in New York that he had not yet discussed a potential timeline for finalizing the new CBA with NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh.

Bettman, who has overseen 31 seasons and three lockouts as the NHL's commissioner, expressed optimism about the organizations' ability to settle on a deal.

"I don't want to put any unfair parameters on it," Bettman said. "It'll be what it'll be, but I think based on the status of our relationship, this will be fine."

Walsh, who took over the role for former NHLPA leader Don Fehr in 2023, will be heading into his first CBA negotiation. He is currently speaking with all NHL teams to gather player opinions on the next contract, per Wyshynski.

Bettman said talks over the new CBA could begin "as early as November," but that the NHLPA will need to conclude its ongoing tour first, per Eric Engels of Sportsnet.