Game On For Minnesota Wild With NHL Lockout Finally Over

After 113 days and a 16-hour marathon negotiating session, the NHL lockout is over.  The two sides have finally agreed in principle to a new 10-year CBA deal that will see the NHL return as early as January 15th meaning the Minnesota Wild will finally have a chance to unveil their two high prized free-agent possessions in Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.  Finally we can watch NHL hockey again.

Without getting into too many details surrounding the new collective bargaining agreement a few of the highlights include:

– 10 year deal with an opt out option after 8 years for the NHLPA

– 50/50 split on all hockey related revenue for all 10 years of the deal

– limit on player contract of seven years unless that player is already with the re-signing team which at that point the club can go eight years.

– the salary cap for the first two-years was a major sticking point and was the final issue that was unsolved and essentially holding up a new CBA.  The players held firm on their year-two cap of $64.3 million per team with a floor of $44 million and only at the eleventh hour did the league move from their $62 million to the proposal set forth by the players.

TSN.ca has the full details around the new deal which include changes to the free-agent period, the draft lottery for the first overall pick along with other, legal parameters that aren’t that exciting.

In the end, a deal was struck and that’s all that matters for us fans.  The details are just that; details.  The game is back and it’s finally time to get excited about our Minnesota Wild and what they can do this year.

Dakota already looked at five predictions he feels are going to happen this year with the Wild and moving forward we will ramp up coverage here at Gone Puck Wild as camp is set to open in a few days.  We’ll examine the roster, the holes the Wild need to fill, the schedule, the divisional opponents and much more.  And finally, we’ll have the game recaps and analysis when the puck finally does drop.

After months of anticipation with nervous moments which included much heart break we can finally say….game on!