NEW YORK – The NHL and NHL Players’ Association are expected to begin discussions on a new collective bargaining agreement in early 2025.

“We will likely have further discussions with the players’ association after the start of the year,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday at the NHL Board of Governors meeting at the Westin New York. “We said it could be as early as November, but I think everyone still has some homework to do. They know the union is on their fall tour, so no big deal. I think it’s just a matter of timing,” which is probably the most realistic thing that’s still way ahead, and we think we’re in a good place overall in terms of the relationship.

The current agreement expires in September 2026.

“I don’t want to speculate. If we made it to the Stanley Cup Final thanks to my media release, everyone would be very happy,” Bettman said. “This is not a discussion in terms of schedule that I had with (NHLPA Executive Director) Marty Walsh. So I don’t want to set unfair or undiscussed parameters. It will be what it will be.” . But I think based on the status of our relationship that will be okay.

Commissioner Bettman also said the NHL salary cap for next season is expected to be around $92.5 million, an increase of $4.5 million from this season’s $88 million, However, warned that this was “still preliminary”.

When asked about the possibility of reducing the number of preseason games and increasing the number of regular season games, Bettman said it was “on the list of things to think about.”

Bettman also said the topic of expansion “never came up in any form” at the meetings, although he noted that “there are a number of places that have expressed interest and are talking to us.”

The NHL has added the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken in the last seven years. Vegas won the Stanley Cup in 2023, its sixth season in the league, and the Kraken made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their second season in 2022–23, improving by 40 points from 2021–22.

“We don’t feel any compulsion to (expand) right now,” Bettman said. “We have just completed our most successful season in our history. We need to look at collective bargaining. We need to make new media agreements in Canada, it might make sense, we might think about it, but we’re not there yet at the moment.”

The Board of Governors also approved George Armoyan’s acquisition of an additional 12 percent stake in the team from Ottawa Senators owner Michael Andlauer, as well as the transfer of controlling interest in the Tampa Bay Lightning from owner Jeff Vinik to a group led by Doug Ostrover three years years.

The meeting also discussed the deadline for submitting squads for the 4 Nations Face-Off 2025. NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States will take part in the tournament, which runs February 12-20 at the TD Garden in Boston and the Bell Center in Montreal.

“The date in our agreement is December 2nd,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “We think we may be able to move the amount up by a few days. However, I understand that several managing directors of the 4 Nations would actually want us to postpone the amount. And I don’t think that’s going to happen. “Because I think the players’ association has a pretty strong interest in doing it as early as possible so that I think the players can plan for the period from November 29th to December 2nd can, some kind of period for the announcements.”

Daly also said teams could adjust their rosters if a previously mentioned player gets injured.

“You have until February 12 to replace players who are seriously injured and the players who might be injured players will be named in advance,” Daly said. “If someone gets injured at the end of the season, you can name their replacement early on.”