Marty McSorley and Pa Gretzky Expect an NHL Season

But McSorley, a former NHLPA representative during negotiations with the league in the early 1990s, warns that people shouldn’t get too excited about deadlines.

“Deadlines mean nothing. Deadlines are to create some unrest with the players,” said McSorley, suggesting targets like Thursday’s cutoff point are often used as a negotiating tactic. “I think they could probably start at the 15th or 20th of November and still put a full 82 games in.”