NHL Board of Governors, players approve CBA extension

The NHL and NHLPA negotiated a package including the Phase 3 and Phase 4 protocols for the NHL training camp and playoffs as well as a six-year CBA extension.

That bundle of complex documents has been ratified by the NHL Board of Governors in a vote today, as well as a vote of the full player membership.

NHL-NHLPA have ratified RTP/CBA.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 10, 2020

Update:

Hearing #NHLPA membership voted 502-135 in favor of ratifying full CBA and RTP package. That's nearly 79 per cent in favor.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 10, 2020

Those are interesting total vote numbers considering the membership of the NHL has to be more than 637 people.

Players will have until 5 p.m. ET on Monday to exercise their penalty-free right to opt out of the 2019-20 RTP. Must do so in writing to the NHLPA and NHL Central Registry.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 10, 2020

UPDATE: official confirmation has been made by the NHL along with the following news.

When competition resumes, the 12 participating Eastern Conference teams will play in Toronto, while the 12 participating Western Conference teams will compete in Edmonton. The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will take place in Edmonton.

For statistical purposes only, all games from the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers (round robin and qualifying rounds) are considered part of the 2020 postseason. Accordingly, all skater/goalie/team statistics accumulated in these games will be included in the 2020 player and team postseason stats. Achievements from these games and series will be included on Records.NHL.com.

From the Memo of Understanding:

The NHLPA agrees that 100% of the funds held in the Escrow Account for the 2019/20 League Year shall be released to the League within 15 days of ratification of this agreement by the NHLPA.

For Waivers, Slides, Accrued Seasons, and other games played related calculations, the new CBA designates pro-rating the calcs to 70/82 GP for 2019-20, specifically for "Roster Freeze Players", defined as:

-Players in the NHL at 5PM March 16 2020, &
-Had at least 1GP in 2019-20

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 10, 2020