NHL Players Association executive director Marty Walsh sat down for an exclusive interview with THN.com. In this file, Walsh discusses NHL expansion, the impact of the new labor agreement, and the league's positive trajectory. Here's Pt. 2 of the exclusive Q&A.
Since he took over as executive director of the NHL Players Association in February of 2023, Marty Walsh has moved the needle in a positive way for NHL players, steering them into agreeing to a new collective bargaining agreement that kicks in next season and overseeing several initiatives to help his constituents.
Following his trip to the 2026 Winter Olympics, Walsh met with TheHockeyNews.com for an interview on Wednesday. Part 1 of that interview – in which Walsh discussed the Olympics, players’ mental health, and much more – was published in this file, and today we’re publishing Part 2 of the Q&A.
Here is Walsh on NHL expansion, CBA changes, and more. This is a transcript of Walsh’s interview, edited for length and clarity:
The Hockey News: I know it isn't the NHLPA’s decision about whether or not the NHL expands by one or two teams, possible expansion, as that’s the purview of the team owners. But do NHL players talk about this? Is it a hot topic of conversation?
Marty Walsh: No, it's not, it's not top of mind for the players. But certainly it's an interesting conversation, an interesting idea about expanding. You think about the last two experiences in (adding) franchises – Seattle, and Vegas – and Utah wasn't an expansion team, but for all intents and purposes, it seems like an expansion team. There's tremendous success in those three places.
You know, the players don't have any say at all in this matter, other than we negotiate once they move ahead with it, with (regard to expansion) drafts and things like that.
But I've talked to Commissioner Bettman about it a little bit…You know, (it’ll be) interesting to see where the league goes with this. I think that it's intriguing on both sides to go to 33, 34 teams potentially.
But also, I think we have a league at 32 (teams) that is solid and growing in a big way. When you look at the attendance and the revenues over the last couple of years, it's going in the right direction. So I think that, you know, those are decisions that (NHL commissioner) Gary Bettman and the board of governors need to make.
Marty Walsh (Geoff Burke-Imagn Images)THN: In the next CBA, with a longer season and a shorter pre-season starting next year, how do you see NHL players benefiting from this change?
MW: I think there's a couple things. Number one, having 84 games (in a season) allows us to have more fans and more opportunities to see a game. I think that that's important. It allows us the opportunity to do a lot.
On the revenue side and getting more fans in the seats and things like that, I think it's important. But my concern with the 84 games was wear-and-tear on a player's body. And when we had the negotiation, we cut the pre-season down from eight games to four. And the training camp went from 21 days down to 13 days. Obviously, these players, for the most part, when the season ends, they might take a-week-or-two off and then they're back on the ice. They're on the ice all summer long, and so they're in incredible shape.
Talking to some of the older players and people who played before, they used to take the summer off, but these players are constantly working and training. So you want to reduce the wear and tear on the body. And I think that there's an opportunity here. As we continue to move forward here, if we see a problem in the future, we'll address it.
THN: I'd love to know what changes the Players Association pushed for in the new labor deal and with achieving labor peace. What do you think the goals are now for the union, and how much do you expect the business of the industry to grow and change?
MW: Our goal going into negotiations was trying to get the best deal for our players that we possibly can. The history (of negotiations with the league) has always been a very tough, tricky negotiation, if you will. Tricky may not be the right word, but always pushing back and forth. And this one, you know, we kind of had a common goal. We both wanted to get a new agreement done. And we wanted to get it done fairly quickly.
We were able to sit down with (NHL deputy commissioner) Bill Daly, Gary Bettman, their attorney, (NHLPA executive) Ron Hainsey, myself, our attorney, and we were able to sit down at a table and go back and forth. We tried to do a little bit for every group of players, if you will, whether they're entry-level or whether they're a 15-year veteran. So I know we accomplished a lot of that – the schedule, the 84 games, If you look at it at the end of the day, it's better for our players.
Overall, we all set out to have a good, straightforward, honest negotiation, and that's what it ended up being. You know, we spent time together during the season. We spent time together during the Stanley Cup.
We were able to hammer out some good things in the contract that has increased safety for our players. We were able to do that. The dress code – we were able to eliminate the dress code. I mean, I know traditionalists like to have suits and ties on our players, but there's opportunities for our players coming in, showing who they are with their personalities. I think all of that helps increase viewership and interest in the game of hockey.
THN: With changes to Long-Term Injured Reserve and the playoff salary cap implementation, how do you see the teams changing the way they do business?
MW: I mean, I don't think the intention was ever to use the system to take advantage of (LTIR). And this is something that the league wanted to fix, wanted to make sure it's a level playing field across the board. And we were able to make some changes there.
So, I mean, I think the system, we'll see what happens with the changes. We'll see how it works. And if we think it's a problem, or if one side thinks it's a problem, we will go back to the table and have the conversation. But this is the first playoff now (with the new system), so we’re going to see how it works out. I know there was some concern by general managers in some instances, but we'll see what happens.
THN: Okay, last question. Before you came into this job, was there something that you never would have dreamed about hockey players or about your position that you've learned thus far?
MW: That's a good question. I knew that hockey players generally were very good people and very supportive of the community. And when I got the job, what I find really interesting is the humbleness of hockey players. Very humble, very quiet, and just very willing to be helpful off the ice, which is incredible.
And I think that everyone's focusing on their team. Players are really focusing their teams. All these players that played in the Olympics – you know, the Canadian players going back to American teams and American players that play for Canadian teams going back to their (NHL) teams. Now they're focused on the jersey they wear on the ice (for NHL games), and I think that that's something that they're able to kind of compartmentalize and understand the importance of their team.
For a two-week period, the players were playing for their country. And for a nine-month period, they're playing for the team that they represent. And I think that that's pretty amazing.
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