Remove the Salary Cap?

with all this dispute between the NHL and the KHL, should the cap be removed to allow the kind of salaries these players want?if not, what is your solution?

tukker wrote:with all this dispute between the NHL and the KHL, should the cap be removed to allow the kind of salaries these players want?if not, what is your solution?

I was wondering the other day if team's salaries were any different whatsoever when the cap wasn't around? Seriously too, I can't remember any contracts that got to 9 million. There were some 7 million dollar ones, but on the open market, would those guys have gotten more on July 1 this year?

I guess it depends on the owner. The cap is pretty fair where it is. 3 big ticket guys max pretty much. Then it goes down to tier 2 which is still quite highly paid, then to tier 3 which is fairly affordable, then to tier 4 which should be 700K max. It's like the NBA - totally a superstar's league.

My personal opinion is that if the cap was removed 1/3 of the league would go tits up.

As for the KHL...maybe this is the thing that evens things out. With a salary cap there's gonna be more and more tier 2 guys that can't find work. The longer we go, the more space is gonna run out, the more guys will be looking for work. It's not the 700K guys, it's the 2-3 million dollar 'pretty good' players that won't be playing. Like Anson Carter last year. Maybe the KHL soaks up those guys and gives them a good paycheque. I can't see legitimate NHL players going there to play for the Vodka Cup or whatever. For Radulov it was about being paid 8 times what he would have or whatever - plus...it would be like you or I going to Russia and becoming a solid player. The Russian team is paying you $1 million, but back home in Ottawa a new team there is offering you 6 or whatever. I would have a hard time not taking the 6 million and coming home. There's gonna be that sentiment among some of the Russians I'm sure.

tukker wrote:with all this dispute between the NHL and the KHL, should the cap be removed to allow the kind of salaries these players want?if not, what is your solution?

Nah, the cap improved the situation. We've had two Canadian small-market teams (and one U.S. small-market team) make it to the finals since the cap was introduced. Personally, though, I think they blew it with the 20% max. They should have made the max 15% (if not less). I don't think the majority of the players care *how* much they get. It's more important for them to either get the highest possible amount (not for the money, but for the pride), or get the highest salary on their team (like Hell's Grannies said, "It's the prestige, mostly"). And as a collective unit, the NHLPA really only cares about the *total* amount payed out to the players -- i.e. the percentage of revenues (which, again, I think is totally wrong -- it should be a percentage of the profits). The vast majority of the players in the union would prefer more money to be available for the veteran non-stars and rookies.

But, no, I don't think we should do away with the cap.