News: Possible 86.5 M salary cap in 2023-24 if escrow balance paid off this season

[UglyPuckling]

Not a good analogy. GMs are trying to win. Saving cap space just in-case something bad happens and the cap doesn't go up as expected hurts their chances to win. Maybe they can take solace in the good cap situation they left for the next GM.

I'm not defending the JT signing. I thought it was dumb they day they did it. They were already a good offensive team. Adding another offensive player at 11 mil made no sense. But that doesn't change the fact that Dubas has had less space to work with due to Covid.

Everyone is trying to win: businesses, sports teams, individuals. You still have to make good, financially prudent decisions regardless. Professional sports teams can still be successful if they don't spend the maximum cap. That's where good management comes in. GMs roll the dice. Sometimes it works, some times it doesn't. They celebrate when it works, and predictably lose out when it doesn't. Then we start hearing the excuses of course. The analogy was fine. I'm moving on as this will get into beating a dead horse soon if it hasn't already. Glad we agree on the JT point.

 

[Habs Halifax]

A) All the individual player salaries are known. What’s not known today is the total collective spending on all players at the end of the season as teams can move players back and forth from the AHL/NHL and player performance bonuses can have an impact. Teams can also pump more money into the player side of the 50/50 share using LTIR.

And more importantly:

B) The NHL doesn’t know exactly how much collective revenue (HRR) they will end up with this season. Like any business they’re making projections of future revenue that may turn out to be higher or lower than projections.


In summary: there is a precise mathematical formula that determines the outcome. The final inputs to that formula have margins of error that will Improve as the season progresses but won’t be fully known until the season ends.

From what I have noticed, NHL projects conversative numbers. Just like when they agreed to the MOU and they set it up with low base revenue.

I've been saying for a few years now that the NHLPA outstanding balance will be paid off quicker than scheduled.
A few ignorant posters laughed at my $90M cap coming very fast!

 

[Curufinwe]

MacKinnon will be overpaid!

 

[HoweHullOrr]

In the case of your team, who's fault is that? Did someone put a gun to KD's head that forced him to spend $11 m on Tavares for example?

Ya, as a Leaf fan, I agree with this.

I didn't think this was a wise move from the minute it was announced. Forwards and scoring more goals just wasn't our biggest area of need at that time. That was an unforced error that's had negative repercussions, and there have been others as well imho.

Not sure how we found ourselves in this year's goaltending situation either. Something seems amiss or awry there as well.

IMHO, we can't deflect away from the costly mistakes that were avoidable. They are a big reason we are where we are. No need to look so hard for excuses.

 

[Captain97]

Wow this is a really insensitive thing to say.

Do you have any idea how much a second home in Muskoka or the Okanagan cost?

Dude it ain't just Muskokas, I saw townhouses in Barrie going for stupid amounts of money.

 

[AcerComputer]

Being financially prudent is always wise. You don't buy car insurance after you had an accident.

Trends can reverse and there's been many examples over the years. Not that long ago, the Canadian dollar equalled 65 cents U.S.

KD rolled the dice with some of the moves he made. It backfired.


Odd question.

Not a big surprise that you didn't answer my question either.

What did your question have to do with the topic? The original comment was, "what's the big deal about a $4m cap increase". My response is that most teams don't have cap space, and for the Leafs this is good news. Your odd reply said, it's Dubas fault for signing Tavares. But 2/3 of the league has no cap space, so it's not a Toronto specific issue, it's league wide issue. Ultimately no team could have foreseen a 1 in a 100 year pandemic, and most of the big NHL contracts these days are negotiated based on a % of the cap relative to it's expected increase each year. Imagine telling Nate MacKinnon you can only give him $11M because in 4 years there could be another setback for the league, and revenues will go down due to mass Tornados in 2026 which will ravage the US, and was predicted by the Mayans 1500 years ago. I am sure that will go over well. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

[Mac Attack]

For some teams absolutely. Like massive

Might allow us to bridge Byram without trading either Girard or Toews. (Just guessing it's one of the LHD that would be going for cap space.) Or we trade one of them and can maybe go longer term with Byram. Gonna be tight no matter what.

 

[Flukeshot]

The real question is if the increase is due to revenue growth and projections or if it's simply that with their debt paid off the players are allowed to use their inflator?

If it's the second scenario, yes the cap goes up but it can all be lost to escrow.

 

[GAGLine]

The real question is if the increase is due to revenue growth and projections or if it's simply that with their debt paid off the players are allowed to use their inflator?

If it's the second scenario, yes the cap goes up but it can all be lost to escrow.

I'm pretty sure the inflator is gone.

This coming year should be the highest ever for revenue. New TV deals, new revenue streams, and just everything being more expensive is driving it up. As long as fans are in the stands, the league should see its best year yet.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Ya, as a Leaf fan, I agree with this.

I didn't think this was a wise move from the minute it was announced. Forwards and scoring more goals just wasn't our biggest area of need at that time. That was an unforced error that's had negative repercussions, and there have been others as well imho.

Not sure how we found ourselves in this year's goaltending situation either. Something seems amiss or awry there as well.

IMHO, we can't deflect away from the costly mistakes that were avoidable. They are a big reason we are where we are. No need to look so hard for excuses.

Flat cap affected some teams more than others. Timing of contracts is usually depended on salary cap growth and the Leafs were counting on it after they signed Tavares and the 3 young guns. Oilers got hit hard too.

I don't blame the Leafs for signing the home town boy. Who wouldn't? Yeah, Leafs need to add a impact D man with that cap space but saying no to Tavares thinking they would find someone like Rielly or better (UFA or trades) is wishful thinking.

Leafs are lacking draft pick hits after the 1st round on their roster.

 

[TS Quint]

A few more gambling ads should do it. How about live betting lines on the virtual boards with bright flashing colors whenever the lines change?

How about more flashing ads on the boards to distract from the game and I can pay more attention to hating NHL.com.

 

[chethejet]

If the amount due the owners is paid off this year, then the revenue supports the cap increase of 3 million over the one million noted. If the cap is 86.4 up from 82.5, then some teams will have a little more wiggle room but for half the teams, they have cap room anyway for next year to do most of what they need to do.

 

[ElLeetch]

Yes. At the same time middle of the road players will like see a decent raise too

maybe not. that has not been the trend. The majority will go to the stars. Most teams will pay the big names as much as they need to, and then roll the dice with ELCs or re-tread vets and hope their performance is almost as good as a middle of the road player, and that will let them squeak by.

The bottom 6 players are the group that gets squeezed out of the game more than any other under a Cap.

 

[UglyPuckling]

What did your question have to do with the topic? The original comment was, "what's the big deal about a $4m cap increase". My response is that most teams don't have cap space, and for the Leafs this is good news. Your odd reply said, it's Dubas fault for signing Tavares. But 2/3 of the league has no cap space, so it's not a Toronto specific issue, it's league wide issue. Ultimately no team could have foreseen a 1 in a 100 year pandemic, and most of the big NHL contracts these days are negotiated based on a % of the cap relative to it's expected increase each year. Imagine telling Nate MacKinnon you can only give him $11M because in 4 years there could be another setback for the league, and revenues will go down due to mass Tornados in 2026 which will ravage the US, and was predicted by the Mayans 1500 years ago. I am sure that will go over well. Hindsight is 20/20.

Lots of straw man fluff in that long winded response. I can see why you'd avoid answering the question about whether the $11 m contract for Tavares was wise. Unforced error. Cheers mate.

 

[These Are The Days]

***The Tampa Bay Lightning Have Entered The Chat***

 

[AcerComputer]

Lots of straw man fluff in that long winded response. I can see why you'd avoid answering the question about whether the $11 m contract for Tavares was wise. Unforced error. Cheers mate.

Tavares has nothing to do with the fact that the majority of teams have no cap space. There are really only like 3 teams who have a ton of cap space (ARZ, BUF, ANA), and about 4 others that have a comfortable cap situation. The $4m increase is something the league needs, not just the Leafs. Not sure why that point is so hard to grasp, but you seem intent to make this about Dubas signing Tavares for some odd reason. You could ask why he signed Marner for $11M or why he only gave Matthews 5 years. Topics that have been beaten to death.

 

[calder candidate]

So is the cap raising because revenue are up, or because since the player will have paid the escrow they owe now they might use there ability to increase the cap by 5%?

 

[HoweHullOrr]

I don't blame the Leafs for signing the home town boy. Who wouldn't?

I and many other Leaf fans thought it wasn't a wise idea from the get go. Just because "you can" doesn't mean "you have to" or "you should". Our lack of playoff rounds won are another indication of how well this worked out.