NHL should remove the salary cap

[Ducks DVM]

That didn’t even happen in the pre-cap era

It absolutely did. Small market teams were forced to trade their impending UFA’s for relative peanuts to deep pocketed teams because they couldn’t afford to compete with the 10M+ salaries that would be thrown at them.

 

[Icarium]

The NHL, for the most part is dying on it's arse. Broke as f*** teams sponging of about 8 teams that pay for the league to exist.

The league isn't dying. And the rich teams' owners freaking love the salary cap, it gives them record profits and a convenient excuse for lack of success.

Also, tanking has nothing to do with the cap. If anything, the cap gives more teams the opportunity to contend rather than tank.

 

[kp61c]

it'll be a league of billionaires and paupers with an atrocious level of competition. stange wish.

 

[Ducks DVM]

It forces teams to actively tank while season(s). It drives down the quality of the league's product.

Like, was there a point of Chicago, Columbus, San Jose, Anaheim or Arizona in entering a tram this year?

What's the point in them and for their fans this year?

The future, and watching some potential star players develop. Good management and good drafting can have them successful as a top team in a few years, as opposed to being a permanent second class where there’s virtually no hope of ever being a top team.

 

[All Mod Cons]

They cheer for losses for the draft, not the cap.

Yeah. It was more an all encompassing comment on what is wrong with, well I suppose N. American sports in general. Teams actively trying to lose every year.

Basketball seems worse, but I could be wrong?

 

[AvroArrow]

Yeah and teams didn't suck for years before the cap either right? right?!?!

Terrible idea, must be a fan of a team that sucks right now.

Wait, are you suggesting teams who can spend more money than others on their roster have an unfair advantage ?

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

The cap is a good thing. I like that it makes GMs and coaching mean something.

I just watched Moneyball again the other night. It solidified my thinking on this subject.

 

[CBJx614]

There's a new post about this every other week. Can we start deleting duplicate threads and post a sticky about searching before creating new threads?!?

 

[miscs75]

I’ll pass on watching the big market teams buying everyone up. The NBA circus got old real fast with the super team junk.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I'm a Wings fan and I think this is a terrible idea.

 

[North Cole]

Is my thoughts whenever I see a new "no more cap" thread.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

Select big market fans want their team to have a competitive advantage beyond market attractiveness. Yawn.

 

[Auston Marlander]

If the Leafs had signed Matthews, Marner and Tavares to cap hits starting with 9 instead of 11 and left themselves a 5M cushion to play with each season, none of these cap whining threads would exist.

What you mean is if Covid didn't hit and the cap stayed flat for multiple years vs rising like expected.

But you would also be wrong since people have been bringing this up before Matthews started playing hockey.

 

[JadedLeaf]

Do we really want to see teams suck for 10+ year straight? How’s that good for the sport or fans.

Half the NHL teams were about to fold before the cap came in. I think some people might be too young to remember that.. the NHL today is 1000 times for stable and healthy than it was pre 04 lockout. The NHL has other problems but the cap has worked exactly like it was designed to work. They aren't going to take that out and risk the NHL going back to a time where most of the teams were hanging on by a thread.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Half the NHL teams were about to fold before the cap came in. I think some people might be too young to remember that.. the NHL today is 1000 times for stable and healthy than it was pre 04 lockout. The NHL has other problems but the cap has worked exactly like it was designed to work. They aren't going to take that out and risk the NHL going back to a time where most of the teams were hanging on by a thread.

This sounds very made up and I have no recollection of this being the case

 

[LTIR]

Sure, remove cap so you can have super teams adding Tarasenko-ROR-Kane to play as the 4th line making 25M per each

 

[ScaredStreit]

No. Hockey is a more regional sport with a much smaller casual fanbase than other sports-that means it needs as much parity as possible to thrive. Not to mention look at how baseball has been on a low decline for a while now and I do think a lot of that is having the same handful of teams for the most part being the same teams that could win the World Series.

Things aren't perfect in the NHL today but they are MUCH better than they were 20 years ago. People forget (or weren't around) that.

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Bad idea and gets even worse by the time Qatar buys the Columbus Blue Jackets, Abu Dhabi buys Arizona and a group from Saudi buys Senators.

The owners would probably love that. They don't have an ounce of principles or ethics to begin with.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Other broke teams like the Sens, Panthers, Blue Jackets, etc.

The NHL, for the most part is dying on it's arse. Broke as f*** teams sponging of about 8 teams that pay for the league to exist.

Allow those teams that can and want to spend more to drag you out of poverty.

The other benefit of a two tiered system is you'll actually get fans cheering on their team to win. Only in North America do half the fanbases cheer for loses every year.

Lol, apparently no idea how the league actually works, how revenue sharing works, how the financials work, which teams that that are in the red or black.

Operating income has soared since the 50/50 split of revenues.
Your team had all the money in the world , spent like drunken sailors, and got nothing for it.
You also benefited by sucking and getting first overall.

 

[Chainshot]

Have they not pulled off some sketchball maneuvers along the way?

They've found ways to use the rules as written to their maximum benefit. That other teams don't use the same is on them for not trying to maximize their advantages.

 

[dirtydanglez]

They've found ways to use the rules as written to their maximum benefit. That other teams don't use the same is on them for not trying to maximize their advantages.

some are situational like kucherov. not any team can use it whenever.

 

[jackjohnson]

Do we really want to see teams suck for 10+ year straight? How’s that good for the sport or fans.

With any system you come up with, some teams will suck. You need some teams to suck to have some good to great teams. They can't all be winning at same time bruh

 

[BLONG7]

Do we really want to see teams suck for 10+ year straight? How’s that good for the sport or fans.

No, of course not............we just need smarter GM's to know how to use a salary cap to their advantage.
Stupidity is not an option..................that's all a no cap league does, let's the rich teams be as stupid as they want, as it drives salaries through the roof, more than they are now.

Player agents are the cancer of sports............cap their earnings, and put everyone on an even playing field, and let the smart organizations win.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Why bother? Your Leafs will win the same # of Cups as last time there was no cap...zero

 

[Djp]

Having no cap will increase the quality of teams significantly and raise not only the level of quality teams, but have much more of fan support and interest into the game itself. GMs will be able to trade and afford players they want.

To avoid teams completely super powering their roster, each team has 4 or 5 of its best players under a cap threshold. Teams can evenly distribute the money and the clause will affect their contracts for the duration of it. However, if you trade them, their clause follows them to the next club. This is to avoid teams just stacking talent and it not having an effect on the cap threshold. Effectively, NMC’s are removed at the expense of being placed on this threshold clause as teams with this space will be the only teams they are traded to.

Example: Cap Threshold limit set at $50M and minimum contract $8M for eligibility.

Blackhawks have John $10M, Ben $9M, Jim $9.4M and Owen $12M.
Total cap hit: $40.4M

Blackhawks have 1 more space and $9.6M left. They want to acquire Bill from LA. They trade for Bill. Bill’s contract is up the following year. Hawks can have Bill in their lineup at no cap hit. The following season has arrived. Bill wants $10M x 7. Hawks like Bill better than Ben, so they give him that contract. Hawks need to trade Ben to be cap compliant to threshold. Hawks need to trade Ben, who has the clause still, to a team with an available space. They trade him to the Avs for Dane, who is making less than $8M therefore they don’t need to put him on a cap threshold. Avs now have added Ben to their threshold.

Having this cap system, teams can move equivalent players freely. Teams can get star players at a limit to avoid superteams being led by teams with the biggest pockets.

Players have more flexibility and options, and teams still have meaningful ways of controlling their assets and business side of things. Removing NMC means stars can’t handicap teams with their massive contracts, which benefits the team. However, they can ask for more money. NTC’s are would still be allowed.

Thoughts?

this isn’t the nba….