NEW YORK _ Two weeks before the NHL is scheduled to begin Phase 3 of its return-to-play plan, with the opening of training camps on July 10, Rangers forward Artemi Panarin said Thursday that players should not report to their teams for camp until the league revamps the escrow system that withholds a percentage of players' salaries until final revenues for the season are tabulated.
"For nearly two decades, the players have protected the owners' income with escrow, including during this pandemic crisis, even as the owners' equity continues to grow exponentially," said Panarin's statement, posted on his Instagram and Twitter accounts. "It is time to fix the escrow. We as players cannot report to camp to resume play without already having an agreement in place."
Under the current CBA, the players and owners are entitled to a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue, and the league's salary cap is based on projections of what that total number is expected to be, using the previous season's numbers as a guide. A percentage of the players' salaries are held in escrow until the final numbers are tabulated, and if it turns out the players received more than 50% of the revenues, then the owners use the escrow monies they've collected to even out the split. If the owners' share was 50%, then the escrow monies are returned to the players. Escrow was set up this year at 14% of the players' salaries.
