"In the meantime, Smith said he has fielded calls from NHL players, including Dallas Stars captain Mike Modano. Other NHLers -- like Brett Hull, son of the first WHA star and current commissioner Bobby Hull, Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios and netminder Manny Legace -- already have indicated they might be interested in playing in the league."
"The league will operate with a soft cap that, depending on the number of franchises, will be in the $14 million range. If the WHA does implement a half-schedule this year, the cap would be about $5 million, Smith said.
Each team will be allowed one "marquee" player whose salary would be capped at $5 million (reduced accordingly for a half-season) and one sub-marquee player whose salary would be capped at half of that. The irony of a player rejecting a cap in the NHL and an average salary of at least $1.3 million to play under a cap system in a fledgling, low-budget professional league is not lost on Smith.
"It's not so much how we'll pay but how we'll explain it," Smith said.
For instance, players will be allowed to have a stake in ownership. Smith hopes netminder Ed Belfour, who was involved in the previous WHA's Dallas franchise, will again be involved. Teams will have an open-book policy, with designated player representatives who will have access to the books whenever they want, Smith said."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?id=1967012
So let me get this straight - players are willing to play in the WHA with a team salary cap of 14 million yet they are unwilling to play in the best league in the world for a proposed cap of 38 million? This has reached beyond the word of 'rediculous'.
First players move overseas to play for peanuts and non guranteed contracts and now the Modanos/Belfours/Hulls of the world are considering playing in the WHA which will have a cap! How can the NHLPA possibly justify this?
Meanwhile, if I'm an NHL owner and I am watching players play in the WHA under a capped system my posistion behind a cap only grows stronger. Why? Because players are playing under a cap now which means they will play under a cap later. To me this is a sign that Goodenow is NOT representing his membership and this is personal for him.
The WHA may be the best thing to happen to the NHL -
if this league gets off the ground and a couple of name players decide to make the jump and play under a cap - I think you'll see a lot of internal conflict amongst NHLPA membership come to a head and the "association" will crumble. I think Goodenow's decision to allow the association's players to play in other pro leagues will ultimately be the decision that loses this battle for the NHLPA.