Yeah, I've said numerous times that I don't actually expect this to happen. These guys are in their mid/late 20s, not in their late 40s as I am, lol. Those extra ~20 years provide a LOT of clarity in life. That's why I always describe it as the advice I would give if I was McDavid's father (which I'm pretty much old enough to be). It is the advice I would give my own son, if he was ever fortunate enough to be in such a position in life. Once you have "enough", however you define that in your own life, money really, REALLY, doesn't matter anymore.
The reality is we have no clue what these guys want to do once their careers end. They’ve got business guys in their ears talking about investments, property etc etc. the unfortunate reality is that very often the more money someone makes the more they want to make. Maybe McDavid wants to buy part of an NHL team when he retires. God only knows. But it’s easy for us to say “oh just take $30m less it’s meaningless to you”. That’s a lot of money no matter how you slice it. It’s also why these guys have agents, to ensure they don’t make stupid decisions in their careers when it comes to career earnings.
The 8 years deals end up making McDavid more money than the 12 or 15 years deal for OV and Crosby. McDavid can still take the same 12.5M deal and still make more than both OV and Crosby.
Crosby next deal could be 12M x 2 years as he needs 2 years to become the Pitts all time point leader and he deserves it but if he decides 8.7M is the deal for him again it means it was never about $$ for him and I'm hoping McDavid sees the same way.
The 8 year deal will see McDavid earning more than those two simply because of the cap going up. Crosby was able to keep his cap hit low because the Pens could backslide his contract in years at the end of his career. He was making $12m per year when the cap was under $80m.
You’re welcome to ask McDavid to take 12.5m per year when the cap is going to be closer to $100m when his deal starts. But without those extra years available to drop the hit, it’s probably not going to happen.