thinkwild said:
If the ALS goes from $1.3mil to $1.8mil, the guy making $750k to $1.2mil still get their 10% raises. A few guys making about $1.8mil now get 10% too instead of presumably no raise at all. How many players can you think of who make the famous $1.8mil?
That a dozen $1.6mil players get a 10% raise instead of no raise can hardly be a major problem of the CBA
The problem is that it sets an inflationnary trend. With as many as 60-70% of the players making less than the ALS, that means the ALS is bound to increase year after year since those players will be entitled to 10% raises after 10% raises. In other words, slowly the ALS will get to $2.0mil and then higher. The ALS increasing means that the team payrolls increase again. This also means that for the majority of the NHL players, the UFA age is 28.
When the ALS was $1.3mil, a guy earning $2.0mil was making 150% of the ALS. Now, the same player needs to earn $2.7mil to be at 150% of the ALS. Clearly, better than average players will want more than the ALS, and proportionately this means more dollars every time the ALS increases.
Also, the point is that while the little guys salaries may still be under $1.3mil, it is still higher than what it was when the ALS was $1.3mil, because they want the same percentage under the ALS as they used to have. 50% of the ALS at $1.3mil was $650k. Now 50% of the ALS is $900k. How many non 4th liners earn less than $750k today? Not many. And so as this slowly rises, the ALS rises again, increasing the total payrolls, etc. It is inflationnary as a system.