NHL lockout: Details of league’s CBA proposal leak; Players to respond Thursday

After 18 hours of negotiating over two days this week, the NHL and NHLPA are set to continue the marathon on Thursday at the Westin Times Square in Manhattan.

The league expects the union to come back to the table with thoughts on a proposal outlined by the owners on Wednesday evening, and thanks to Sportsnet’s John Shannon, we have some of those specifics.

* While the sides have agreed already on a 50/50 split of hockey-related revenue, the players have been concerned with easing the transition from the current 57/43 split down to the new number. To do so, the NHL offered what they call the “make whole” provision, which essentially “makes the players whole” on their existing contracts with deferred payments.

The union has previously asked for $393 million from the league here. The league, in turn, had offered $211 million. Shannon reports that the league Wednesday offered $300 million, which roughly splits the difference.

* Contract term is a big issue for the owners, who wish to limit the insane long-term deals that have been handed out in recent years -- including this past summer. The NHL’s proposal would limit contracts signed in free agency to five years, although when signing a team’s own free agents, contracts up to seven years in length would be allowed.

* The league also did not budge on its previous position when it comes to year-to-year variance in a player’s salary. The owners want to limit the variance to no more than five percent, which would stop teams from front-loading contracts in an attempt to circumvent the salary cap.

* Unrestricted free agency eligibility rules and salary arbitration rules would stay the same as in the previous CBA.

* The new CBA proposed by the league would be 10 years in length.

The NHLPA will respond to these points on Thursday, day 82 of the 2012 NHL lockout.