NHL Board of Governors, players approve CBA extension

The 2017 diverse group. | Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images

They gave the green light to the return to play formats and protocols along with a six-year extension to the current CBA that starts next season.

The NHL and NHLPA negotiated a package including the Phase 3 and Phase 4 protocols for the NHL training camp and playoffs as well as a six-year CBA extension.

That bundle of complex documents has been ratified by the NHL Board of Governors in a vote today, as well as a vote of the full player membership.

Update:

Those are interesting total vote numbers considering the membership of the NHL has to be more than 637 people.

UPDATE: official confirmation has been made by the NHL along with the following news.

When competition resumes, the 12 participating Eastern Conference teams will play in Toronto, while the 12 participating Western Conference teams will compete in Edmonton. The Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will take place in Edmonton.

For statistical purposes only, all games from the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers (round robin and qualifying rounds) are considered part of the 2020 postseason. Accordingly, all skater/goalie/team statistics accumulated in these games will be included in the 2020 player and team postseason stats. Achievements from these games and series will be included on Records.NHL.com.

From the Memo of Understanding:

The NHLPA agrees that 100% of the funds held in the Escrow Account for the 2019/20 League Year shall be released to the League within 15 days of ratification of this agreement by the NHLPA.