Be Prepared for an Extra-Long Off-Season in the N.H.L. The Stanley Cup playoffs and the coronation of the Los Angeles Kings may well be the last N.H.L. action hockey fans will see for some time - perhaps until Christmas. The owners have informed the players" association that they will not renew the collective bargaining agreement when it expires Sept. 15, and the likelihood of a lockout is high. If they go the lockout route, the owners goal would be to reduce the players" share of revenue to about 50 percent from 57 percent, as N.B.A. and N.F.L. owners succeeded in doing with lockouts last year. The N.H.L. players agreed to substantial salary givebacks to settle the 2005-6 lockout. Now, under the strong leadership of Donald Fehr, their union says it has no intention of reducing its slice of the pie to make the owners" slice bigger. Some believe there will be no lockout, that the gains made by the N.H.L. will force both sides to reach a new agreement and build on the momentum generated by a thriving business and high TV ratings. If a lockout takes place one possibility has the owners scuttling the first two to three months of the regular season, then settling for two or three percentage points of the players" share - or $60 million to $90 million a year, compounded over the life of the new contract. Even the most pessimistic do not seeing the owners holding out long enough to cause the cancellation of the N.H.L."s biggest regular-season event, the Winter Classic on New Year's Day. Other off-season issues include the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes. It is unclear whether Greg Jamison can raise the money to buy the money-losing team from the league, and less clear whether the Glendale, Ariz., City Council's arena lease deal with Jamison can survive an expected court challenge from the libertarian Goldwater Institute. Cash Infusion for Devils The Devils earned an additional $32.3 million during their run to the finals, according to an estimate by The Star-Ledger of Newark, and that would help with a loan payment of around $80 million that is due soon. But their future could hinge on whether an investor or investors will buy a substantial minority share in the team. No such sale has been announced. The Devils" financial situation may be a factor in where their captain, Zach Parise, will wind up when he becomes a free agent on July 1, but one potential destination is already off the table: Parise said last week that he would not sign with the Rangers. The other big name atop the pending free-agent market is Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter, Parise's good friend. The Predators hope to retain Suter, but reports persist that he could be headed for the Detroit Red Wings, whose captain, Nicklas Lidstrom, retired. Other reports have Parise joining Suter in Detroit. Another elite player who could be on the move is Columbus wing Rick Nash. Nash could be dealt around the league's entry draft next weekend, since at least seven teams are reported to be talking with the Blue Jackets. A clause in Nash's contract gives him the right to approve any trade. Moves Ahead for Kings The Kings have off-season issues to address as well, but of a happier nature. They are poised for the first time in club history to be a league power. Most of their core players - goalie Jonathan Quick, defenseman Drew Doughty and forwards Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter - are young, from 22 to 27. But General Manager Dean Lombardi must start developing good young defensemen soon. The Kings" two best shutdown defensemen are Willie Mitchell, 35, and Rob Scuderi, 33. Lombardi will also want to negotiate a contract extension for Quick, the postseason's most valuable player. Quick will enter the final year on his contract making $1.8 million, far below market value for a top goalie. Additionally, the contract of the valuable third-line center Jarret Stoll is expiring, and Lombardi will hope to sign him by the start of free agency. Where Did the Goals Go? The N.H.L. will address the slipping officiating standards at a conference in August. But the real reason for concern is the plummeting level of scoring. Teams averaged 5.32 goals per game this season, the fourth-lowest total since 1955-56. The conference will be aimed at having referees call more penalties, creating more power plays that should, in turn, produce more goals. But a larger factor is that goaltenders have become more efficient. During the regular season, N.H.L. goalies had a .914 save percentage, the highest since the league started keeping track in 1983-84. They combined for a .921 playoff mark, the second highest in that period. With Jonathan Quick, Mike Smith, Brian Elliott and Henrik Lundqvist making .930 save percentages commonplace and all goalies routinely stopping shots with masks, drop-down leg pads and enormous trapper gloves, general managers and league officials at the conference could take a smarter approach to increasing scoring by limiting the size of goalie equipment. The idea would be to not punish those and other excellent goalies of the current era, like Tim Thomas, Ryan Miller and Pekka Rinne, for developing better puck-stopping techniques. Rather it would be to reduce the frequency of 1-0 and 2-1 games, and the expectation that a goalie will smother practically any shot taken.