The Hockey News’s Jake Tye asked Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson to react to the extension of the NHL-NHLPA collective bargaining agreement which begins in 2026-2027, and Watson suggested that it’s not all roses for AHL players attempting to make a preseason impact given that the preseason will drop from 8 to 4 games…
The changes will be interesting to see with Detroit’s AHL head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, Dan Watson, believing the deal is ” good for both sides.” Watson expanded on his comments by saying the extra two games should help business with two more gates rather than pre-season ticket sales that normally aren’t as strong.
“I I think both sides sort of gave up something. The negative side is with only four games, hopefully the guys that are knocking on the door of making the team will get enough reps and will get enough gameplay for teams to see them and be able to evaluate them,” Watson explained.
Watson also weighed in on several other topics, per Tye:
The NHL will need to better manage these contracts however, as the league is looking to finally close the loophole for the long-term injury reserve that teams have allegedly abused to manipulate their lineups heading into the playoff and roll out lineups that are over the salary cap. Watson believes the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) could be a tool in quickly learning the new process as the league includes similar restrictions when it came to the salary cap and add more transparency with lineups heading into crucial games.
“I think every team’s going to know who they’re playing and what players are going to be involved in the playoffs, and what that looks like. I came from a salary cap league in the ECHL, and I know it’s completely different than the NHL, but we knew heading into playoffs, we knew every team’s roster probably know their lineup a little bit more,” Watson said “We weren’t guessing if this guy’s gonna be coming off an injured reserve and if he’s going into a spot. What does that look like? Because every day, you had to be within the salary cap restrictions, and so I think it’s very similar in terms of everyone has to get to the salary cap on those days that you play.”
