Dreakmur
Registered User
Really does make sense to implement either a separate salary cap by team to account for different taxation but it would be a pain in the ass.
A less pain in the ass move would be implementing a luxury tax.
Why a luxury tax? Of the major sports leagues in North America, the NHL and the NFL don't have a luxury tax while the MLB and NBA do.
Key difference? The NFL can cut guys anytime whereas the NHL has guaranteed contracts.
If we're going to continue with this "parity" bullshit the NHL was so keen on achieving, then we need to actually account for the fact that there is a clear difference in take home pay in certain locations so let's try to even the playing field a bit.
Seems like the simplest solution would be to have a player tax pool that works just like the owners revenue sharing. Let’s say 10% of every contract goes into the pool, and that money gets redistributed based on taxes paid by the players. Basically, the low tax states would pay an extra 10% and the high tax states would pay 10% less… and the middle ones stay put. Not exactly equal, but a lot closer.
This, or course, would have to be approved by the NHLPA.