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Monday, November 22, 1999
Reluctant backer
NHLPA doesn't like Yashin's stand, but has to support him
The NHL Players Association might not agree in principle with Alexei Yashin's contract holdout, but the union feels it has no choice but to offer practical support for his battle with the Senators.
Sources say union head Bob Goodenow would rather distance himself from the decision by the Senators' centre to not honour the final year of his contract. However, the NHLPA is also not happy with the team's aggressive, hard-line stance in suspending Yashin for the rest of the season.
The Senators suspended Yashin two weeks ago and while the union hasn't made a public response, it has held talks with Yashin's New Jersey-based agent Mark Gandler.
"The NHLPA doesn't really like what Yashin is doing. They would rather see him in camp, honouring his contract and trying to get something done for next year," said a union source yesterday.
"But they can't let the Senators dictate the collective bargaining agreement they signed with the league. They can't just let the NHL walk all over them, because the CBA doesn't cover this at all."
TEAM STANCE
The Senators have told Yashin -- now working out with a team in Switzerland -- he cannot return to the team this season. The team also claims Yashin owes it the unfulfilled season on his contract next year -- or whenever he does resume playing.
Yashin, 26, scheduled to make $3.6 million US this year, vows not to return until the Senators either negotiate a new long-term deal or work out a trade with another team.
The Senators have refused both requests and the battle has now reached a stalemate. At this point, both sides have dug in their heels and there is some sense that Goodenow might try to mediate a solution.
"The one thing about Goodenow is that he doesn't like this one bit," said the source. "The union is always worried about its image and how it looks in the public eye. They don't like the approach Yashin and Gandler have taken.
"Ideally, they'd like Yashin to return, the Senators to welcome him back with open arms and for both sides to live happily ever after. I really don't think that's going to happen in this case."
NHL BACKING
And, the NHLPA believes, there is one simple reason for that.
"The league is set to help the Senators battle this one to the finish line," the source said.
The CBA doesn't stipulate anywhere that Yashin's contract would slide back to next year if he doesn't fulfil this season. There is some precedent for such a case, however, because that is how contracts work for players who are subject to the rookie salary cap.
Should the matter not get settled by the Senators, Yashin and the union, then it's expected an independent arbitrator will have to be called in to decide and it's anybody's guess what might happen in that case.
"One way or another, the arbitrator is going to settle the whole thing and nobody likes to go through that process because you never can predict which way he might," said the source. "The union has to support Yashin, they really do. He pays his dues just like everybody else and if they don't stand behind him then what are they telling the rest of their membership?"
Goodenow has refused public comment until he talks with Yashin, but it's possible the union could make some kind of statement once it develops a strategy to fight the league.
That's still in the works.
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