Marquette Sports Law Review Volume 3 Article 7 Issue 1 Fall Legal Analysis of the NHL Player's Contract Joseph M. Weiler Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw Part of the Entertainment and Sports Law Commons Repository Citation Joseph M. Weiler, Legal Analysis of the NHL Player's Contract, 3 Marq. Sports L. J. 59 (1992) Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol3/iss1/7 This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE NHL PLAYER'S CONTRACT JOSEPH M. WEILER* I. INTRODUCTION If one were to scan the provisions of a National Hockey League (NHL) Standard Player's Contract ten years ago and compare these clauses to the current terms of the Standard Player's Contract (see Attachment A) or the Collective Bargaining Agreement, it would be difficult to discern any major alterations. However, anyone who reads the morning sports page cannot help but be aware of the dramatic changes in the world of hockey resulting in a new context in which these contractual provisions now operate. Conse- quently, when I sat down to write this article, I felt that the best way to analyze a NHL Standard Player's Contract would be to review the recent major legal events in the NHL. Understanding the impact of these develop- ments is integral to appreciating that the terms of the new NHL Standard Player's Contract are now being written by different people who comprise the labor-management relationship in hockey, and that these contracts are interpreted by a new breed of arbitrators on behalf of a much broader dem- ographic spectrum of hockey players.