I know the players are trying to shrink escrow but the owners are betting on the wording of the CBA. One side can't just do away with it. It must be agreed upon. I agree that there will be a compromise and the cap won't go down as many are thinking. It just won't go up as much as things had been predicted last year before the CDN$ started falling even more.
(Preliminary HRR for the prior League Year multiplied by fifty (50) percent (the
Applicable Percentage), minus [-] Projected Benefits), divided [/] by the number of Clubs
then playing in the NHL (e.g., 30), shall equal [=] the Midpoint of the Payroll Range
(which figure shall be considered the Midpoint only for purposes of calculating the
Adjusted Midpoint; all references to the "Midpoint" thereafter shall mean the "Adjusted
Midpoint"), which shall be adjusted upward by a factor of five (5) percent in each League
Year (yielding the Adjusted Midpoint, which shall then become the Midpoint of the
Payroll Range) unless or until either party to this Agreement proposes a different growth
factor based on actual revenue experience and/or projections, in which case the parties
shall discuss and agree upon a new factor.