Calling it a loan isn't right, but Seravelli's point is still kind of a good one. The goal is to not have to give the owners some of the escrow withholding. At the same time, the goal for the owners would be to not have to pay the players anything to get to the 50% mark. If they were still on direct linkage and they got the revenue and spending projections perfectly right (not a real possibility), then no one would owe anyone anything beyond the agreed contracts.
Either way, this should make both sides even more amenable to going beyond the 5% increase limit, even if they don't get a CBA done as quickly as the NHL hopes.