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"Flyers and NHL follow me at http://twitter.com/BobHaynesJr"
United States, VA • United States •
Talk about crazy! I could not believe what I was reading when the Devils signed Kovalchuk to a 17 year contract. I thought Lou must have gone crazy. Then I started to see details and didn’t like what I saw right away. I know Pronger, Hossa, and others have contracts that back down on money at the end to lower the average cap hit, but not 7 years worth! That length is the SAME LENGTH as Pronger’s entire deal! Maybe if they had a 27 year deal with the last 17 years at $500k, they could have really lowered his average price? And that is the problem. For over 1/3 of the contract term he was earning 3% of the contract value.

So now how can they fix this in the next CBA and make it more fair for all? Here is my idea. Take the salary cap number to be the average of the preceding year, current year and next year of the contract. For teams that resign a young player, they could have an advantage since they paid him less the year before. That would cut down on some movement and allow teams to develop more players for longer. For guys that sign with a new team, their cap number is the average of the first 3 years. For contracts with less than 3 years remaining, it is the average of the rest of the contract. Alright I know there are some cases I am missing here, but you get the idea and the NHL and NHLPA can work out the rest. No more front loading or back dumping contracts. Sign the guy, pay him, and count his salary against the cap. Also give teams with young cores the chance to keep the young guys for one more contract.

Thoughts?

Good Night and Good Hockey!

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Filed Under:   Salary Cap  
July 22, 2010 6:46 PM ET | Delete
i think adding some variation of the nba's larry bird rule would help the nhl's cap situation.
July 22, 2010 8:14 PM ET | Delete
the worst thing about the salary cap is when you got your core stud players coming off their entry level deals and they go from makin 800,000 to wanting 5 mil a year when the average team has barley 5 mil in cap space to begin with..i hate this salary cap!
July 22, 2010 9:53 PM ET | Delete
No Larry Bird rule. The point of the salary cap is for cost certainty and competitive balance. You eliminate both of those with the Larry Bird rule.
July 22, 2010 9:54 PM ET | Delete
stricker, it's not the fault of the salary cap. It's the fault of the GMs who don't know how to plan beyond the upcoming season. If they don't have room to sign players it's their fault, not the caps.
July 23, 2010 10:07 AM ET | Delete
No Larry Bird, no sign and trade like the BS of the NBA. Teams should be able to keep their drafted players into their prime years instead of having to make a decision after 3 years. This time of home town break on the cap would allow players to stay with the team that drafted them longer!
MJL
July 23, 2010 3:08 PM ET | Delete
My thoughts are that there would be new loopholes found in the "system" you propose.
July 23, 2010 3:20 PM ET | Delete
Not sure how the loopholes would appear. Players would be encouraged to take a harder look at staying with their team. More loyalty to the home town. They would be encouraged to sign shorter contracts. Backloading contracts with no value would be out since there is no benefit to the team. I am still looking for a problem other than the averaging and math would be INSANE!
July 23, 2010 3:56 PM ET | Delete
Get rid of the cap all together.
MJL
July 24, 2010 12:51 PM ET | Delete
Players would be encouraged to take a harder look at staying with their team. Nor would there be more loyalty. Nor would they be encouraged to sign shorter deals. Players don't give a rat ass what their Cap hit is. They care what thier salary is. And they want the stability of a long term deal. Your "system" wouldn't change anything.
July 24, 2010 2:59 PM ET | Delete
I see you responding MJL, but never offer a solution. You just complain. The long term contracts are the results of the math used under this CBA. Altering the math will change the contract terms quickly! Smart people adjust to new rules. It is as simple as that!
July 25, 2010 12:30 PM ET | Delete
The cap cannot be removed. If they do, you have MLB. Teams that spend are good and teams that don't suck. I like the competition during the regular season.
July 25, 2010 8:32 PM ET | Delete
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