chriss_co said:
Thats why the league has to scrap the idea that all players are exactly the same and should be paid exactly the same amount of money as players of equal standard.
I don't see this point at all. The league doesn't have this idea.
There is only one Chris Pronger and one Ed Jovonovski. They play for different teams and are in different situations. You can't compare the two and say Jovo should get Pronger money because Jovo is like Pronger...
I agree that they don't compare. And that is the real reason I originally raised Jovanovski. Pronger is utterly unique. He did not set a benchmark for anyone. When he was Jovanovski's age, he won the Norris and the Hart. When he was Jovanovski's age, he was making $10 million, twice what Ed is making. Scott Niedermayer won the Norris and surely tried to use Pronger as a comparable in his arbitration hearing. He ended up with $3 million less. I think New Jersey successfully argued that the market was changing, and (or) that Pronger's salary did not represent market value for anyone.
Jovanovski's contract is an important one because he's set the benchmark for the next generation of defensemen. It is not unreasonable to say, "If Jovanovski makes $5 million, then Redden and Chara should be in that ballpark, too."
Salaries should be negotiated based on performance and value to the team, not what some other team paid another player.
If it could only be so.
The problem with this idea is that the players can't freely move to increase their value to their team. With the same performance Vincent Lecavalier would have much more value to his team if he played in Montreal. The NHL won't let him play where he can maximise his value. The challenge is to compensate him for that, at least partially.
The solution is to establish a seniority based NHL market value, a value that is aimed at the middle rather than either extreme. If we aren't going to let Lecavalier negotiate with Montreal, how does he assure he is paid fairly? Is it fair to make him play in a place where he has to accept Tampa value? Unless the Rangers or the Leafs finish last, Sidney Crosby will never be able to maximise his value to his team. Should he have to accept Carolina value?
Or should Carolina have to pay him an NHL value?
Tom