Salary Cap

ANOTHER NHL lockout is beginning look inevitable. Unable to move beyond the philosophical stage of talks, the owners and players have watched another week slip by without progress as the Sept. 15 deadline for a lockout gets closer. They sat down together for a quick session Thursday in Toronto before reporting the same significant gap that has existed all along. "We believe we're paying out more than we should be," commissioner Gary Bettman said. The difference between the offers put forward so far is perhaps best articulated in terms of their impact on the salary cap. Under the NHL's initial proposal, it would fall to $50.8 million for next season.

COMING OFF his best professional season and heading into a contract year, Scott Hartnell knew he was due for a big payday sooner or later. Even with all of the labor uncertainty surrounding the NHL, Hartnell did not not need to wait until a new collective bargaining agreement was hashed out. Hartnell, 30, knew he wanted to play in Philadelphia. On Monday, Hartnell proved that by inking a fresh 6-year, $28.5 million contract extension that will keep him with the Flyers through 2018-19.

TORONTO - The first truly tense moments of the NHL's collective-bargaining negotiations have arrived. With NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Association head Donald Fehr not scheduled to sit across from one another until the middle of next week and the sides unable to even agree on the core issues that need to be addressed, a sense of uneasiness has enveloped the talks. On Thursday, Detroit general manager Ken Holland canceled the Red Wings' annual prospects tournament in which seven other teams were slated to play: the Sabres, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Stars, Wild, Rangers, and Blues.

ELTON BRAND says he would have loved to return, but he also knew the Sixers had to make changes if they were going to improve. Those changes included the Sixers opting to use their amnesty clause on Brand, who was claimed by the Dallas Mavericks late Friday. Dallas' winning bid was reportedly $2.1 million, but Brand still will be paid the full $18.1 million he is owed. The Sixers will pay the balance, but the money will not count against the salary cap. The Sixers also are not bringing back guards Lou Williams and Jodie Meeks.

DALLAS - The Dallas Mavericks won the bidding Friday to obtain two-time all-star forward Elton Brand off waivers, the latest in a series of moves to build their roster after a frustrating start in free agency. Brand was available after the 76ers this week used the one-time amnesty provision in the new CBA to let him go and not have the $18.1 million he is owed in the final season of his five-year deal count against their salary cap or luxury tax. Dallas also completed a one-year deal with 7-foot center Chris Kaman, who had tweeted two days earlier that he reached an agreement with the Mavericks.

After a protracted period of silence and inaction during the NBA's free-agency period, the 76ers finally shook up their roster on Thursday, waiving forward Elton Brand by using their amnesty provision on the power forward and agreeing in principle to a one-year, $6 million deal with Nick Young. Young will replace Lou Williams, who opted out of his contract last month. Brand will be paid almost $18.2 million in salary from the Sixers, making him the ninth-highest paid player in the league in 2012-13.

THE 76ERS SAID after the season was over that they were looking to get bigger and more athletic in the middle, whether it be via draft, trade or free agency. They might have addressed that area a little bit when they got 6-11 Arnett Moultrie, of Mississippi State, in a draft-day trade with Miami last week, but Wednesday, they decided to go back to a comfort zone. According to sources, the team has agreed to a 2-year contract to keep last season's starting center, Spencer Hawes.

AT LONG LAST, U.S. Olympic teammates Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are together, after signing equal 13-year, $98 million deals in Minnesota within an hour of each other on the Fourth of July. Cashing a fat, $12 million bonus check for signing on the dotted line just seems so ... American. Another American, Matt Carle, added his own fireworks on Wednesday night by signing a mammoth 6-year, $33 million deal to return to Tampa Bay as the first dominoes began to fall. In Minnesota, both Parise and Suter left behind the only teams they have ever known in New Jersey and Nashville.

Before NBA free agency began on July 1, 76ers president and general manager Rod Thorn said that the team's first order of business would be to re-sign unrestricted free agents Spencer Hawes and Lou Williams. On Wednesday, the 76ers made good on part of that equation, agreeing in principle on a two-year, $13 million deal with Hawes, a center. Hawes can't officially sign the deal, which was first reported by Yahoo Sports, until the league lifts the moratorium on signing contracts on July 11. The Sixers have had conversations with Williams, a shooting guard and the team's leading scorer last season.

ZACH PARISE stood outside a nondescript office building in suburban Toronto on Monday and made an important announcement, with the entire hockey world — general managers, fans and fellow free agents alike — hanging on every word. Except, Parise's announcement wasn't much of an announcement at all. He needs more time to decide his future. Nearly everyone in said hockey world collectively grumbled. Parise's decision is the domino holding up nearly every other marginal free agent from signing.