Beyond the noticeable changes in the new National Hockey League collective bargaining agreement — like expanding the regular season to 84 games and implementing a playoff salary cap — is an investment in caring for former players that hasn’t existed until now.
The league and union will contribute US$4 million annually to the newly established retired players emergency health care and wellness fund. NHL Alumni Association president and executive director Glenn Healy, a retired goaltender, said the plan provides access to a family doctor and a mental wellness professional for any player, “whether you played one shift or 10,000 games.”
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Healy, deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA assistant executive director Ron Hainsey shared details about the plan Tuesday for a small group of reporters attending the league’s annual pre-season player media tour.
“Our wellness plan is not like basketball,” Healy said. “It’s not like football. We’re different in this sport. We don’t have our teeth. We have different issues, and this is I think a real step forward for the players. This is groundbreaking. This is Christmas Day for us.”
The agreement, which runs through 2030, also increases the insurance subsidy that retired players are eligible for to $10,000 a year.
“This is just another additional thing we can do for our current and former players,” said Hainsey, who played more than 1,000 games from 2002 to 2020. “The idea is when our players do leave the game here, in the future, that they’re in a totally different situation for their post-career lives.”
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Healy, a Stanley Cup champion with the New York Rangers in 1994, has been pushing to fill this gap for some time and met with Marty Walsh about it when he took over running the union in 2023. Walsh at the time said alumni well-being was high on the list of things the NHLPA wanted to focus on, and this is evidence of the league joining in on that effort.
“We certainly recognize at the league the importance of our history and the men who made that history and formed that foundation for the success we’re having today, so we’re very appreciative of that,” Daly said. “Obviously, our work with the alumni association has grown in leaps and bounds over the years.”
St. Louis Blues forward Robert Thomas, when asked his favourite parts of the new agreement, mentioned not the elimination of team dress codes or fitness testing but pensions and health benefits for alumni.
“There’s so many guys that did so much for the league and the players in the past,” Thomas said. “Trying to continue to make that a No. 1 priority moving forward is something that a lot of players feel really good about.”