There's a chance this could be Pekka Rinne's last season with the Predators.

A slim chance, but a chance nonetheless for the man who's played 712 games and all 13 seasons of his career with Nashville.

The soon-to-be 37-year-old goalie hopes that's not the case, of course. Rinne hopes to play out, in full, the 2020-21 season, which is the last year of the two-year, $10 million contract extension he signed last season.

Sunday, seven years to the day when the last NHL lockout began, was the deadline for the NHL Players' Association to decide whether to opt out of the collective bargaining agreement that went into effect in 2013. However, that deadline was pushed back to Monday thanks to a clause in the CBA that extends that deadline a day if the original deadline falls on a Sunday.

"I hope my last year doesn't get pushed back or erased," Rinne said Thursday, when the Predators reported for training camp.

"I'm not prepared to retire after this year."

In August, NHL owners informed the NHLPA that it would not reopen the current collective bargaining agreement, which runs through the 2021-22 season should neither side opt out. Should one side opt out, the CBA would end after this season.

"Our analysis makes clear that the benefits of continuing to operate under the terms of the current CBA – while working with the Players’ Association to address our respective concerns – far outweigh the disruptive consequences of terminating it following the upcoming season," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in August.

What if?

Should the NHLPA decide to opt out, a lockout is possible during the 2020-21 season.

Should the NHLPA opt to reopen the current CBA, talks would continue until the current CBA expires or a new agreement is reached.

Predators defenseman Yannick Weber, like Rinne, said he's optimistic the 2020-21 season won't be interrupted.

Weber is the Predators' player representative in the union, as voted on by his teammates. Ryan Ellis is the team's alternate rep.

"I'm very optimistic," Weber said. "Seven years ago, the lockout before, there were bigger issues. ... There's not much the owners want to change (now). From the players' side, there's not much we complain about in our daily lives.

"This time around everybody seems fairly happy. The owners are definitely happy. Franchise values went up a lot. You see new franchises coming in, paying $650 million. Players make a lot of money."

Money talks

They also have been giving up some of that money, thanks to escrow, part of the CBA signed in 2013.

Then, the biggest issue was revenue sharing. Owners fought for, and eventually received a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue. Before that, the players had received a guaranteed 57 percent.

Part of that resolution was escrow, where teams withheld a percentage of players' salaries to ensure the 50-50 split was met. If it was not met, money from that escrow would make up the difference to the owners.

Escrow, which has ranged from 8 to 11.5 percent of a player's salary, has become one of the biggest issues for players now, thanks in large part to the around 27-percent fall in value of the Canadian dollar during that span.

"It is something that’s not controllable too much in the CBA how it is now," Weber said. "We signed that CBA seven years ago in the middle of a lockout. ... We didn't know the Canadian dollar was going to drop (that much). That's huge in our league."

Weber also said the salary cap, which has gone from $60 million to $81.5 million since 2013, is an issue.

Players make 12.7 percent more than they did two years ago, but league revenue hasn't been able to catch up, Weber said. According to statista.com, the NHL's revenue has gone from $3.7 billion in 2013-14 to $4.86 billion last season, a 7.6 percent growth. .

"Selling the game hasn’t been as they wanted it to be," Weber said. "To get more people in arenas and watch games has been kind of tough."

Weber said he hopes a new television deal, which likely will begin in two years, can help relieve some of that disparity. NBC already has said it would like to strike a new deal to continue televising rights when the current deal, 10 years at $200 million per year, expires after the 2021-22 season.

Not unprecedented

The last two times the owners and the players' association reached negotiation stages, a lockout occurred — in 2013 when the season was reduced to 48 games, and 2005, when the entire season was lost, a first in American major league sports history.

Rinne, whose career began right after the 2004-05 season was lost, played in the KHL during that time.

"Those things leave scars," Rinne said. "Nobody can ever be 100 percent happy when you go through that. I hope this time around things go smooth."

This time around Weber said he expects more peace.

"It doesn't look like anyone wants to got to war or pick a fight," he said.

Reach Paul Skrbina at pskrbina@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @PaulSkrbina.

What it means

Then

In 2004, after nearly two years of failed negotiations, the 2004-05 season was lost after the NHL and NHLPA couldn't reach an agreement on a CBA. The main source of contention was a hard salary cap, which eventually happened. Before that season, a study showed that owners spent 76 percent of their gross revenues on salary, a figure much higher than other sports. The report also showed a collective loss of $273 million the previous season.

In 2012, a main source of contention was hockey-related revenue sharing. Players had been receiving 57 percent of such revenue, which was later reduced to a 50-50 split. The league played a 48-game schedule.

Now

Tensions between the NHLPA and the league seemingly aren't as intense as the previous two labor disputes. According to Predators player representative Yannick Weber, players would like to reopen the CBA, which expires after the 2021-22 season, and revisit the escrow, which allows owners to retain a percentage of players' salaries to ensure the 50-50 split is met. The drop in value of the Canadian dollar since the agreement was signed has been around 27 percent, which greatly affects a league that relies heavily on revenues from Canadian teams.

What's next

NHL owners decided not to reopen the current CBA for negotiation. Should the players elect to do so, the current CBA would end after this season. That means negotiations would continue until the current CBA expires or a new deal is reached, which could result in a work stoppage. The NHL has experienced three lockouts and a strike since 1991-92.