How would you “fix” the NHL

[BrokenFace]

Not like the current champs were 18M over the cap + extra savings due to state tax, comparatively putting them close to 30M over vs other teams

It doesn't serve the purpose it was intended to serve, teams just find ways around it. Actual net money, Point/Kuch/Stamkos all make more than the leafs big 3 contracts but is about 4m lower in actual cap hit. The cap and cap circumvention is a major issue.

Tavares wouldn't be part of the Leafs if he wasn't from Ontario. If we adjust the cap for differences in state income tax, are we also going to adjust for markets that produce more NHLers who can attract stars to "come home" as UFAs? Are we going to adjust the cap for differences in local property taxes if we're adjusting for state income taxes?

 

[TeamRenzo]

nix Bettman

Why?

 

[Tweed]

I would improve the game with one minor rule addition: Delay of Game penalty for goalies covering the puck on anything that’s not a save.

 

[libertarian]

I wonder why a Leafs fan would be an advocate of removing the salary cap.

Did you read his post?

I liked his idea and I'm a Jet fan. I don't see why teams are punished for being good at draft and developing their top prospects into NHL stars. This should be rewarded not punished by being forced to sell players to stay under the cap.

 

[txomisc]

I would improve the game with one minor rule addition: Delay of Game penalty for goalies covering the puck on anything that’s not a save.

this is a big pet peeve of mine. way too often there is a stop in the action as soon as the goalie covers the puck, and he doesn't even really have to be that close to the crease. Move the puck, keep the game flowing, and make the goalies take a few more risks that end up producing offense.

 

[Bluesguru]

The games are great now. So much talent now the league is flourishing.

Let goalie play puck might be a suggestion though. Could be fun to watch,

Hockey was probably at its best from 88-93. Gretzky, Lemieux, Hull, Selanne, etc. Lots of goals, stars galore, game had everything.

 

[stahl]

One thing I would do it penalize a team by not letting them change lines when they take a penalty. Just like with Icing. The players on the ice must stay on the ice for the power play until they can clear the zone and try to get off. This would make powerplays more exciting and take some of the over coached situations out of the game.

 

[Norwegianoiler]

I loved hockey back in the 90’s and early 2000’s and as I got older, the game is definitely not as much fun to watch and I have more excitement for the NFL. After watching movies like Ice Guardians, you can see the game isn’t the same.

Just curious, if given control over the NHL what would be your priorities?

It might not be the NHL that's the issue, but the fact that we (myself included) grow older and lose some of that unbridled enthusiasm over things. In the very least it's hard to really (really) assess what has caused you to perceive the league to be less interesting.

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

Removal of multiple teams in the United States to have real Hockey star teams. Right now all teams in the NHL suck because 1/4 of the players can't think the game at all.

50 game seasons.

International break where National teams play in different parts of the world every year. Go everywhere, grow the game.

Create a 3 on 3 tournament and start a champions trophy with winners of all European leagues.

Commissioner has to be Canadian. Or create a Canadian position to fight for Canadian interests.

Canadian teams should have a right to prodigious players developed in their own backyard as well to continue to help the game grow in Canada.

Create a separate outdoor pond Hockey tournament played in Winter locations in Canada and northern USA. Played in February when Winter is at its merriest. If you don't play in a Winter city you can retire.

 

[The_Human_Atombomb]

Make the ice slope downwards from center line.

 

[DFC]

This is the best the game has ever been.

All hail Bettman.

 

[LeftWingLocked]

The league is full of rich kids now and there is little emotion in the game. Gone are the days of growing up on a Canadian farm or in some far off Russian village. Now it’s the kids of millionaires because the sport is unaffordable for most.

 

[PROGFAN66]

Let’s face it the NHL or the sport of Hockey will always have these traits that the sport is to fast for many to follow and most people can relate to sports where you can run or jump not skate and shoot a puck. In Hockey you are going to offense to defense to offense to defense much faster than sports that have either alternating possessions or more possession based.

It also doesn’t help when you have terms like hybrid icing rule, regrouping, neutral zone forechecking and delayed offsides or penalty which sound like a foreign language to sports where you run or hit a ball. However, I embrace those aspects of Hockey but not everyone does.

The biggest issues to me are how the game is called in a sport where the defense and goaltending already have the upper advantage in the NHL and how the game is marketed to the masses. These are two major issues that have been poorly addressed.

However, I don't think scoring in the NHL is as bad as some may think. I think the NHL could easily increase scoring if they wish to.

Take a look at some of the more popular sports for example. In the NFL per team averages 3 touchdowns and 1 FG a game. Soccer in the Premiership its less than 1.5 goals per team.

In NHL per team it's about 3 goals. It can easily be raised if a player serves the whole penalty and the penalty team does not have the luxury of just clearing the puck the full ice length. The 3 on 3 overtime will eventually increase to seven to ten minutes and will be played out in full in my opinion.

I would increase the width of the rink and goal net for the obvious reason of the size and speed of the players. Scoring would increase as noted if the officiating didn't always favor the defense and goaltending.

 

[the_fan]

Just curious, if given control over the NHL what would be your priorities?

Get rid of the salary cap

 

[Jugitsu]

Not like the current champs were 18M over the cap + extra savings due to state tax, comparatively putting them close to 30M over vs other teams

It doesn't serve the purpose it was intended to serve, teams just find ways around it. Actual net money, Point/Kuch/Stamkos all make more than the leafs big 3 contracts but is about 4m lower in actual cap hit. The cap and cap circumvention is a major issue.

I agree. What Tampa did this year is absolutely ridiculous. But my solution would be to try and plug the loopholes instead of getting rid off hard cap altogether.

 

[UnSandvich]

Definitely:
Fix Department of Player Safety.
Adopt the 3-2-1-0 pt. system.
Actually call the instigator penalty.

Maybe:
Allow healthy scratches to enter the lineup in between periods if a player is injured during said period. If a player leaves the game and is replaced, they may not re-enter the game.
Longer 3-on-3 before the shootout.

 

[Jugitsu]

Did you read his post?

I liked his idea and I'm a Jet fan. I don't see why teams are punished for being good at draft and developing their top prospects into NHL stars. This should be rewarded not punished by being forced to sell players to stay under the cap.

Did you read the post I quoted? Maybe you’re talking about some other post? The poster I replied simply stated that the cap should be removed since it’s just being abused anyway. Which I disagree with.

 

[MXD]

No draft. No "hard" cap.
15 skaters and 2 goalies but enable the dressing of healthy scratches should a player get injured.
Call the instigator.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

- 76 game season (2 games each against every team in the league and 4 games each for the 7 teams in your division). All teams go to the playoffs. Playoffs are a 1-8 seeding for each division for round one and teams continue to play one another until each division has a winner for the final 4. Teams ousted in the first round get entered into the draft lottery. Would -only add one extra round but wouldn't really change the length of the season. Gives teams who start poorly a reason to play late in the season. Crazy upsets generate fan interest for rebuilding team fanbases. This is, by far, my favorite idea.

-Switch to Olympic size ice. It would actually simplify things a whole bunch. It would open up the game and get rid of some of the clutch and grab. I really don't know who would be against this.

-Switch back to the old rule. A penalty doesn't stop after a goal.

- Clamp down on the scrums after the whistle, they drag the game on. You get caught shoving after the whistle you go to the box for 2 minutes but no powerplay. Gets rid of some of the bullshit that causes injuries and some of the weasel antics of guys like Wilson. We don't need star players getting crosschecked in the face after a whistle by some asshole

- The Player's Association will push back against harder/longer punishments for repeat offenders, but we really do need to update the punishments. Maybe this means the player will still have to get paid on longer suspensions to have buy-in from the NHLPA, but we need to make the game safer.

- Fix Tampa's salary cap manipulations with a simple luxury tax. It a team wants to exceed the salary cap to replace a player on LTIR, they can apply for a salary cap exemption for that player's salary for the expected duration of the injury. If they exceed the cap in a season, by say 10M, they are taxed into a common fund an additional 10M which is then distributed to the bottom 1/3 teams by revenue for the preceding year. EX: Toronto loses Marner (10M) for the whole season. They get a 10M exemption for the season added onto their cap. Toronto acquires Tarasenko to replace him at a 7.5M cap hit. Toronto pays 7.5M into the common luxury tax fund.

- Salary cap continues into the playoffs.

- Add an opt out for the draft

- Adjust the language of the morality clauses for criminal behaviour. We need to give Teams/NHL/NHLPA a better arbitration system to allow them to remove players from the league for criminality and problematic behaviour. For the good of the league

- Have teams negotiate contracts based on after-tax pay in USD. Make it more fair for teams in high-tax jurisdictions.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Why?

Because he did a decent job of doing what he does--growing the league--but is directionless and inconsistent with the sport itself. Hasn't figured out the officiating, no idea what the league's policy should be re: off-ice transgressions or on-ice violence...Every situation is either a crisis or an afterthought. He doesn't know how to make decisions about things that we will need more and more decisions about, and he doesn't know how to hire people who do either.

He's done a pretty good job on some fronts. But the league probably needs new leadership if it wants to make actual changes to the bad habits and weirdness that have emerged over the last 30 years.

 

[jetsforever]

Market. Players. In. All. Markets.

Out of curiosity, what do you literally mean by that? Like what actions would you take?

 

[libertarian]

Did you read the post I quoted? Maybe you’re talking about some other post? The poster I replied simply stated that the cap should be removed since it’s just being abused anyway. Which I disagree with.

Did you read his post? He was not talking about getting rid of the Cap. He spoke about only allowing teams to go over the cap to re-sign drafted and developed players. Teams would not be able to go over the cap to sign free agents or on trades for other players. This would reward teams for a good draft and develop program instead of punishing them for be TOO successful by forcing them to trade away good players they drafted developed to stay under the cap.

 

[Shaman464]

- 76 game season (2 games each against every team in the league and 4 games each for the 7 teams in your division). All teams go to the playoffs. Playoffs are a 1-8 seeding for each division for round one and teams continue to play one another until each division has a winner for the final 4. Teams ousted in the first round get entered into the draft lottery. Would -only add one extra round but wouldn't really change the length of the season. Gives teams who start poorly a reason to play late in the season. Crazy upsets generate fan interest for rebuilding team fanbases. This is, by far, my favorite idea.

-Switch to Olympic size ice. It would actually simplify things a whole bunch. It would open up the game and get rid of some of the clutch and grab. I really don't know who would be against this.

-Switch back to the old rule. A penalty doesn't stop after a goal.

- Clamp down on the scrums after the whistle, they drag the game on. You get caught shoving after the whistle you go to the box for 2 minutes but no powerplay. Gets rid of some of the bullshit that causes injuries and some of the weasel antics of guys like Wilson. We don't need star players getting crosschecked in the face after a whistle by some asshole

- The Player's Association will push back against harder/longer punishments for repeat offenders, but we really do need to update the punishments. Maybe this means the player will still have to get paid on longer suspensions to have buy-in from the NHLPA, but we need to make the game safer.

- Fix Tampa's salary cap manipulations with a simple luxury tax. It a team wants to exceed the salary cap to replace a player on LTIR, they can apply for a salary cap exemption for that player's salary for the expected duration of the injury. If they exceed the cap in a season, by say 10M, they are taxed into a common fund an additional 10M which is then distributed to the bottom 1/3 teams by revenue for the preceding year. EX: Toronto loses Marner (10M) for the whole season. They get a 10M exemption for the season added onto their cap. Toronto acquires Tarasenko to replace him at a 7.5M cap hit. Toronto pays 7.5M into the common luxury tax fund.

- Salary cap continues into the playoffs.

- Add an opt out for the draft

- Adjust the language of the morality clauses for criminal behaviour. We need to give Teams/NHL/NHLPA a better arbitration system to allow them to remove players from the league for criminality and problematic behaviour. For the good of the league

- Have teams negotiate contracts based on after-tax pay in USD. Make it more fair for teams in high-tax jurisdictions.

Most of this would ruin the game. Olympic ice? Especially with the physicality of the NHL would be back, mmmkay.

Having a PP run its full time would just be "how hard can shitty teams get f***ed? as hard as possible"

Scrums after the whistle tend to be healthy, and act as a release valve. As likely as not you're going to make in game scrums worse when they do happen if the little ones aren't allowed to go on.

You've given two suggestions that could make the game much more dangerous then want to have harder PKs and player discipline? That'll go over like a lead balloon.

Tampa is the latest in a long line of manipulators. Remember Detroit and Chicago invented it with their million year contracts.

You have no idea how the salary cap works. Players aren't paid to play in the playoffs. Their per game salary drops the more playoff games they play. The best paid per game players are players that miss the playoffs. Beyond that, its calculated as a daily number, which extended it to the playoffs would really really mess it up.

Fixes to the draft, while I agree with aren't going to be simple. The NHL draft is literally as simple as they come, and any additions would necessarily complicate it.

As for the taxes how would this work? The first reason why this is the stupidest idea ever is you'd literally have to know every away game that player will play for up to the next 8 years. That right there is enough to make the idea trash. Second, you'd have to know tax law for every country an NHL player has citizenship in, as many countries require citizens to pay national income taxes even when working abroad. Also, what happens if a city/state/country changes their tax laws? It happened on a national level in the US in the last 5 years and could happen again in the next year.

 

[rumrokh]

You guys are going to take a lot of crap from the younger crowd here for pining for the 90's game. But you're not alone and you're not wrong. Those who criticize your views simply have no frame of reference outside of the past 10-15 years at best, you can't fault them for not knowing what they can't know.

There's this prevailing narrative that today's players are faster and more skilled (not even sure why they believe this), therefore today's game must be better and/or more entertaining. Yet nearly everyone who has watched multiple eras say that today's game is not as entertaining, even if it's better hockey from a technical standpoint. This isn't nostalgia speaking when so many people feel that way.

Nostalgia absolutely does work for groups of people, not just individuals. I've been following since the 80's and while I wouldn't say today's game "must be better," it's definitely not worse, either. And most people I know agree - in fact, the majority of fans I know or have met who have drifted away are xenophobic, pro-goon fans who miss fights and career-altering hits.

There are still serious problems with today's game, they're just different ones. Huge-pad robotic goalies. Unpunished diving. Penalties for barely tapping somebody's stick. Wildly inconsistent Dept. of Player Safety judgments. Broadcast quality is so high and stats are so public, it's increasingly blatant that officials massage games and call the score. The league is always going to be a bit of a joke as long as that continues.

 

[Instincts]

Teams have same salary cap. Factoring in taxes and etc
Shorten contract length to max 4 years (will reflect player's skills better) and make it possible for teams to have control over players they drafter for longer (RFA). To compensate contract term shortening
Start calling a game by a book
Shorten the season if 50% of teams going to make PO or one less round of play-offs so long season will actually make sense
Less politics more hockey
Less woke propaganda more sport