What about Bob?

It looks like the players have ratified the new CBA! Whew.

Now the question for the NHLPA is; 'what about Bob'?

Bob Mackenzie has three options;

1. He stays
2. He sticks around for a bit, to see how things shake out for his own 'buy-out'
3. He walks out immediately after the ratification.

I'm betting on #1. Why? Several reasons;

A. The hostility towards Goodenow from the players is likely overstated. The fact is he got them the a pretty good deal this time around all things considered, and he is responsible for negotiating a wicked deal 10 years back. What is hurting him with the Union is the stance he took on 'No Cap' during the negotiations. I'd argue that while that was an inherently unproductive starting point for the NHLPA, it nevertheless was little more than a failed bargaining ploy and not worth decapitating the NHLPA over.

B. The most likely replacement is hardliner Mike Gartner. Frankly, Goodenow is clearly much, much better for the NHLPA than Gartner would be.

C. He has a lot of money on the line - why walk away from close to $8M over the next three years?

D. If the players REALLY look at the new agreement they will see that they will get pretty much everything they wanted - earlier free agency, rookie caps, a basement on team spending, league revenue sharing, a mechanism that ties growing league revenues to player salaries, and an equal partnership with the NHL in marketing the game. What they lost was a chunk of cash (they were going to lose that anyway), and of course, a cap (which they were going to get no matter what). So if I were Bob, I'd be selling these facts to the NHLPA, and telling them to wait and see how this plays out - because like the last deal, it may well end up all being in their favour when the coins are counted out.