The NHL Players Association will present its vision for a new collective bargaining agreement to the NHL when labor talks resume Tuesday.
Just don't call it a counterproposal. NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said on Monday the union's proposal will offer a ''different kind of an approach'' and an ''alternate view.''
The presentation will come a month after the NHL made its first proposal, which included a 20 percent reduction of players' share of revenues and limitations to free agency.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he's interested to see what the union has to offer, but declined to speculate what might be included.
The current deal expires Sept. 15.
Bettman has already said the NHL is prepared to lock out its players if no deal is reached by then. Negotiations have been underway for seven weeks, but he still isn't sure exactly what the union has in mind Tuesday.
''We'll have to wait and see. I'm not going to try and speculate as to what they're going to present (Tuesday),'' Bettman said. ''I have no idea.''
The players will be looking to make a splash with their proposal. As many as 25 union members are expected to be in attendance for the session — including Washington star forward Alex Ovechkin — and key details are slated to be released publicly.
''All things in this world at this stage of this negotiation,'' Fehr said, ''are possible.''
The regular season is slated to begin on Oct. 11.
