SAN JOSE, Calif. — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday the owners aren’t “looking for a fight” when it comes to collective bargaining negotiations with the players.

The current CBA runs until 2022, but the league and players each have the option this September to terminate it effective Sept. 15, 2020. Bettman said at a news conference at All-Star weekend that the owners are mostly satisfied with the last two negotiations that instituted a salary cap and then provided an even split of hockey-related revenues between players and owners.

“There’s no question that the league is healthier now dramatically,” Bettman said. “We wouldn’t be where we are today if we didn’t have a system that corrected some of the ills in the past. We have stability, we have competitive balance and the game is able to grow. That’s good for everyone involved with the game.”

NHLPA special assistant to the executive director Mathieu Schneider agreed that the tenor of discussions has improved in a sport that has had one strike and three lockouts since 1992, but that players want to recoup some of the losses they suffered in the last two negotiations, including an end to the escrow payments that ensure the 50-50 split in revenues.

However, Schneider said he didn’t agree that the players are in control of whether there will be another stoppage.

“There’s no question that the players have given back billions of dollars over the course of the past two negotiations,” Schneider said.

Both sides have had productive talks already and were able to reach an agreement on player and puck tracking, which Bettman said bodes well for more difficult negotiations ahead.

Schneider said the tension that was present at the start of the last talks that led to a lockout that wiped out 510 games is in the past and both sides agree the relationship is stronger.