Toronto Maple Leafs: Is another NHL lockout on the horizon?

There is still another two years before the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires, but should Toronto Maple Leafs fans be concerned about the prospect of another NHL lockout?

Toronto Maple Leafs fans are excited for the upcoming season, and with good reason. With a stacked roster which includes the likes of John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly and Frederik Anderson, they have been tabbed as genuine Stanley Cup contenders.

However, in the world of professional sports, it’s never too early to look at what lies ahead on the landscape. Case in point being the current NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

While the current CBA doesn’t expire until September 2020, these next two years will be gone before you know it. As such, it would be understandable if there was some concern among fans, when the Toronto Sun’s Michael Traikos reports that talks regarding a new CBA have yet to commence.

In fact, it’s downright frustrating, when you consider there were lockouts the previous two occasions the NHL and the players were attempting to negotiate a new deal. Are both sides really prepared to let a similar scenario happen again?

If doesn’t help matters, when you consider the comments of Donald Fehr. As reported by Traikos, the executive director of the NHL Players Association said:

"“The doomsday would be two years away. Even if notice is given in September 2019, the contract doesn’t expire until September 2020. That’s a fairly long time into the future and I’m 70 so a lot can happen between now and then.“That doesn’t really trouble me. And collective bargaining — like a lot of things — sometimes you need circumstances to prod the parties to begin the process and ease it.”"

In theory, Fehr’s words make sense. The issue is, the circumstances needed to prod both parties to get things moving have involved lockouts during the two previous occasions.

Last time, this resulted in the regular season being shortened to 48 games. And the previous occasion was even more of a disaster, with the entire 2004-05 season being cancelled.

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Perhaps the biggest reason to worry about the threat of a lockout, is the response of the fans. While there has a lot of frustration and anger towards the NHL in respect of the lockouts, the reality is the fans always come back.

This is not a criticism; the passion of Toronto Maple Leafs fans and other fan bases around the league is something to respect. Unfortunately, it also means the league and the owners won’t consider their feelings — no matter what they say publicly — when deciding whether to have another lockout.

In respect of the owners, Fehr is under the impression the owners are happy with the current CBA. If true, as reported by Traikos, Fehr points towards the players looking for certain changes in the next deal:

"“…the players made significant concessions last time and much bigger concessions the time before. And escrow has not gone away, contrary to what was thought and predicted at the time. There are some really frayed nerves over the Olympics and some other things.”"

Taking everything into account, Toronto Maple Leafs fans should make sure they enjoy these next two seasons. As much as there will be no issue if I’m proven wrong in this matter, it will come as no surprise if the 2020-21 season does not begin on time.

What’s your position on what lies ahead? Are you concerned about the prospect of another lockout, confident the two sides will agree a new deal ahead of time, or not particularly bothered at this stage? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.