Players Make Counterproposal to NHL’s Plan to Limit Wages

The NHL Players Assn., during five hours of bargaining Friday in New York, presented a proposal that plays off of the league’s “luxury tax” plan, which would impose payroll limits on clubs but would eliminate arbitration and greatly loosen restrictions on free agency. NHL officials agreed to examine the concept during the weekend and prepare a response for their next meeting, which could take place within days.

Sources among the clubs’ and players’ camps characterized the session as amicable and indicated they will continue negotiating. The previous labor agreement expired Sept. 15, 1993.

Concerned about rising salaries, the NHL has sought ways to control costs and put large- and small-market teams on equal footing. The luxury tax idea proposed by Commissioner Gary Bettman would put a ceiling on payrolls and penalize clubs that exceed the limit. However, it would also modify current restraints on free agency and eliminate the unpredictable arbitration process.

Players have rejected two proposals that included salary limits and remain opposed to the idea, an NHLPA source said.

Participants offered few details about the players’ counterproposal.

Said Mike Gartner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHLPA’s president: “This proposal is extremely different from any that we’ve presented in the past. We looked at their concerns . . . and tried to address them. We believe we have.”

The NHL also announced terms of an agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation outlining plans for NHL players to participate in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

The agreement compels teams to release players for the World Championships unless games conflict with the Stanley Cup playoffs and stipulates that each team will pay the IIHF $400,000 in each of the next three years as compensation for signing European players. The NHLPA must ratify the agreement before it takes effect.