<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is the basic contract between the National Hockey League (NHL) team owners and the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA), designed to be arrived at through the typical labour - management negotiations of collective bargaining . The most recent agreement, tentatively reached on January 6, 2013 after a labour dispute which cancelled 510 regular season games of the 2012--13 season, was ratified by the league's Board of Governors on January 9, 2013, as well as by the NHLPA membership three days later on January 12, 2013 . The current CBA is a 10 - year deal, the longest in NHL history, expiring after the 2021--22 season . </P> <P> The previous agreement was signed in 1995 following a lockout which shortened the 1994--95 NHL season to 48 games, a loss of 34 games from what had originally been an 82 - game schedule . None of the games scheduled for the 1994 segment of the season was ever played, the lockout lasting until after the beginning of 1995 . The collective bargaining agreement was initially to last for six seasons and be open to re-negotiation in 1998, but was eventually extended to last until September 15, 2004 (one day after the World Cup of Hockey final in Toronto). </P>

When does the nhl collective bargaining agreement expires