TORONTO – NHL players’ union head Donald Fehr says management’s latest proposal would cost his members more than $1.6 billion over six years.

In a letter to players and agents, Fehr said the proposal owners made this week in what they said was an attempt to preserve a full 82-game schedule was an improvement over previous management offers but “represents very large, immediate and continuing concessions by players to owners.”

“Simply put, the owners’ new proposal, while not quite as Draconian as their previous proposals, still represents enormous reductions in player salaries and individual contracting rights,” Fehr said in the letter, according to a report by TSN. “As you will see, at the five percent industry growth rate the owners predict, the salary reduction over six years exceeds $1.6 billion. What do the owners offer in return?”