BY: Mike Harrington / News Sports Columnist
• It’s a 10-year term with an opt-out by either side after year eight. So that means no more labor issues until 2020 at the earliest.
• There will be a 50-50 split of revenues between the players and league, with the NHL providing $300 million in make-whole money to fund previously signed contracts.
• For this season, the salary cap for player contracts is $70.2 million, based on a full season of 82 games. The cap for next year will drop to $64.3 million, which was one of the most contentious issues. The league had wanted that figure also to be at $60 million. The salary cap floor the next two years will be $44 million.
• Teams will be allowed two amnesty buyouts of player contracts, beginning in June. The contracts will have to be paid at two-thirds of their value, but the entire value will be removed from a team’s cap. The buyouts must be used up following the 2014-15 season, either by one in each year or two in one year and none in the other.
• Player contracts will be limited to eight years for returning players or seven years for free agents, with contract salary variance capped at 35 percent per season. The league had wanted as little as a 5 percent variance. The salary of no year will be allowed to be less than 50 percent of the highest-paid year.
• Revenue sharing between teams will be pumped to $200 million, with a $60 million growth fund put in place.
• The union will also have defined pension benefits, with owners assuming liability.
• The draft lottery will be weighted, with all 14 nonplayoff teams having a chance at the No. 1 pick. Previously, only the top five teams were able to move to No. 1.
• In other issues, the players stood firm on the July 1 opening to the free agency period, and that will remain. NHL players’ participation in next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and a geographic realignment of the NHL’s teams for next year were not part of the agreement and will be worked on through league committees.