NHL Owners Urged to Push Back on Bettman Over Tax Inequality and Revenue Sharing

When it comes to the new NHL/NHLPA CBA, a lot of the talk is going to be focused on the rising salary cap, expansion plans, and what's next for the league going forward.

But one thing that won't change in the next CBA is the issue regarding the tax situation in the NHL.

There's a lot of discussion about how some teams might have an unfair advantage when it comes to signing premium free agents based off the fact they can earn more on their salary by being taxed less.

But it seems that isn't going to slide with some, and people are urging bigger markets like Toronto, Montreal, and New York to tell the NHL to either make it fairer for them to sign players, and make some type of change.

It could be argued that those teams need the tax break in order to obtain those free agents, and we've seen a stark increase in certain teams either becoming dynasties or suddenly the most potent (case in point, the last six Stanley Cup Finals has seen either Florida or Tampa Bay in in).

The revenue sharing of the NHL boils down to highly-profitable teams need to provide some financial assistance to those who don't have as much capital.

It is supposed to limit spending, however it's been used as a loophole of sorts to provide teams with top level talent on under market-level contracts.

While teams like Toronto and New York often find themselves north of $250M in terms of revenue, you can see teams like Tampa, Florida, Carolina, and Nashville making under $200M a year.

Everyone but Nashville this season ended up getting in a playoff spot, and in some cases are fighting for a second straight Cup but they still managed to sign names like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei to very reasonable deals.

However it seems that it could be the Maple Leafs who end up hurting the most, and there's a big possibility that the additional revenue generated from the Rogers Media deal will then fund these lower teams even more and give the Maple Leafs even less parity than they already have.

One thing they could share with leagues such as the MLB and what might end up creating some more parity is by actually giving them free rein to an extent.

Just establish a luxury tax threshold where teams are able to go over that and pay a penalty based on that.

It would give teams like Toronto the chance to pay free agents more and balance out the tax situation more; and as the most profitable team in the league, paying that won't be an issue.

That way, you still give teams the chance to earn money via revenue sharing, but allow those high-earning teams to spend above their means to at least stand a fighting chance.

Gary Bettman might not want to change the tax system, but it sure seems like everyone else does, and he could end up doing one positive for everyone before he rides off into the sunset.