Report: NHL has made new, maybe slightly less terrible, offer to players

With half the season already canceled due to the ongoing lockout, the National Hockey League has reportedly made an offer to its players that moves a little bit from the string of previous "offers" demanding massive concessions.

The player, who requested anonymity, said the NHL made a new offer to the NHLPA on Thursday, one that moved on the term limit for player contracts, salary variance and buyouts, according to the player. [...]

Details of the new offer include:

• Term limit on player contracts moves to six years from the five years NHL asked in previous offers (seven years if you're re-signing your own player).
• Year-to-year salary variance moves from 5 percent (NHL's previous offers) to 10 percent.
• Each team will be allowed one compliance buyout before the 2013-14 season that will not count against the salary cap but will count against the players' share.
• The Make Whole provision stays at $300 million.

The NHL is not confirming this report, but there is a reason for movement to come now: players voted last week to allow their union, the NHL Players' Association, to dissolve, which would allow players to file an anti-trust lawsuit against the league. The NHLPA's executive board has yet to follow through, but that threat could shake loose a better offer from league management and owners. That said, we're talking about a massive money and power grab of a lockout—there's no way the players are coming out with anything that in a reasonable world would look like a win. There's only the possibility of something short of a total loss.