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<p>PALM BEACH, Fla. — Day 1 of the NHL’s annual December Board of Governors meeting here at the historic Breakers Resort was as sleep-inducing as Florida’s warm, gentle breezes.</p>



<p>Commissioner Gary Bettman was feted for his 30 years of service, the milestone which was commemorated at this same hotel almost exactly three decades to the day of his election, and the league’s governors heard presentations from all three television media rightsholder partners.</p>



<p>That leaves the real meat on the agenda for Day 2 on Tuesday.</p>



<p>Chief among interest for hockey fans is the latest projection for next season’s salary cap. Bettman projected optimism that the cap has the potential to rise significantly, as much as $4.5 million, after being frozen for these last three seasons as a result of the pandemic’s interruption on business.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="143"></div>



<p>Not much has changed since the Board was last apprised of those details on Oct. 18.</p>



<p>“I don’t want to get ahead of what we’re going to tell the Board, so there’s not a whole lot I can say there, but what I’ve suggested is we’re only six weeks after the last update we gave to the Board,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Monday. “Our finance department has gone back to the clubs and gotten revised projections and estimates, but they aren’t materially different than what they were six weeks ago. So I think we’re kind of in the same position with respect to what we’re going to be telling the Board tomorrow.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ottawa-senators-franchise-sale-update"><strong>Ottawa Senators franchise sale update</strong></h2>



<p>Daly confirmed there is “significant interest” in the majority ownership stake of the Ottawa Senators franchise, which has been put on the market in a process managed by New York-based Galatioto Sports Partners.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="147"></div>



<p>To date, it’s not believed that Galatioto has begun paring down the list of potential bidders, but those plans are beginning to come together. Daly couldn’t confirm the number of interested parties, but sources suggest it may be in the double digits. Any sale of the franchise, with Eugene Melnyk’s daughters expected to maintain a minority stake, will be contingent on the Senators remaining in Ottawa and a new arena lease being completed.</p>



<p>“There seems to be significant interest, which is good. It should be a healthy process,” Daly said.</p>



<p>That the Senators’ franchise is considered so valuable despite their lack of business and on-ice success over the last decade has caught some by surprise. Perhaps not the NHL: “Look, there’s a lot of interest in the franchise, which I think speaks highly of the league as an investment,” Daly said.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="141"></div>



<p>One of the reportedly interested potential bidders, Michael Andlauer, attended Monday’s Board of Governors meeting through his role as a Montreal Canadiens minority shareholder. Andlauer also owns the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs and some league sources would consider him a frontrunner in the process given his comfortability with the Board, provided Andlauer can assemble the correct consortium of partners given it will be a capital-heavy investment to include the real estate funding of a new arena project and surrounding district.</p>



<p>Incoming Nashville Predators owner Bill Haslam also met with the NHL’s Executive Committee on Monday. Haslam has entered as a minority partner, but will assume majority control of the team as part of an agreement set to transition in July 2025.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Slap shots</strong></h2>



<p>The Board is expected to be apprised of a Fan Code of Conduct on Tuesday that has been in the works by the league’s Inclusion Committee for a number of months. The recent incidents of fans throwing items onto the ice in New Jersey would fall under that code, but the code is not in a direct response to that incident … Daly said the Board hear a recap on the Global Series’ activations and execution on Monday: “We had great success and we’re going to do it again [in] different places” … Daly said that the next World Cup could be scheduled for 2025, shortly ahead of the 2026 Olympics, is not problematic from a scheduling standpoint … In fact, Daly reiterated that player participation in the Milan Winter Olympics is “not ironclad,” and said the NHLPA has been clear that players “are not going if they don’t get what they’ve normally gotten” in relation to the terms and conditions with things such as insurance and travel costs.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="289"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Quotable</strong></h2>



<p>“I’m not a nostalgic type of person, but I received a nice accolade from the Board, a resolution that the chairman read. I got a nice ovation from the group. I’ve had incredible support for 30 years, from the clubs, the owners in particular, from our organization at the league offices. I actually can’t believe how quickly it’s gone. It’s been a fun ride, sometimes a bit more fun than others, but it’s been a fun ride.”</p>



<p>— Gary Bettman on the 30th anniversary of his election as the NHL’s first-ever commissioner on Dec. 11, 1992.</p>
