Thursday is the third straight day of negotiations between the players and owners and from all indications, the CBA could be finalized this week. According to numerous reports, the NHL made another Collective Bargaining Offer which indicates some concessions from the league.
TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that the league has stated a willingness to keep Unrestricted Free Agency and salary arbitration the same as it was under the prior CBA. This essentially means that UFA eligibility begins at age 27 or seven years of NHL service.
However, Lyle Richardson of Spector's Hockey did mention that the NHL still wants to limit contracts to five years with a maximum yearly variance of five percent. Richardson's report also indicates that teams would have the option of re-signing their free agents for up to seven years. He did state that this was a major point of contention and that "Talks did at times get testy." McKenzie adds that the NHL proposed a 10 year CBA term with an "opt-out clause after 8 years."
The two sides resumed negotiations this afternoon with hopes of finding a resolution by the end of the weekend. Rumors from Hockeybuzz.com indicate that there may be a deadline for tomorrow and that games could start up on Christmas day.