Is the NHL cap system too strict?

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[jcs0218]

The salary cap was never meant to create parity or make the product more interesting to watch.

A salary cap exists because it guarantees cost certainty, with expenses (salaries) linked as a percentage of revenues.

The owners will never agree to getting rid of the salary cap or implementing a soft salary cap (luxury tax), because they want cost certainty and this only happens with a hard salary cap.

 

[Sabresruletheschool]

Maybe every three years or so a team should be allowed to release one contract with no penalty?

 

[Mrfenn92]

It’s fine to me. I wish it was higher obviously but that’s getting into the 50/50 and escrow crap. Just wish gm’s were smarter

 

[MichaelFarrell]

I think there should be a soft cap but I also think the GMs handle the cap horribly.

 

[norrisnick]

Teams/GMs are treating salary cap's upper limit as if it is the recommended payroll level. If you don't leave any wiggle room don't complain that you can't make any moves you want to make to improve.

 

[Kerberos]

Get rid of guaranteed contracts. The talent pool that the NHL can draw from is tiny but there are so many garbage players in the league that honestly don't deserve to be in the NHL.

 

[La Bamba]

Get rid of guaranteed contracts. The talent pool that the NHL can draw from is tiny but there are so many garbage players in the league that honestly don't deserve to be in the NHL.

this. or have 1 compliance buyout option every summer. some players get too comfortable after getting a big cushy contract

 

[Three On Zero]

Cap system is fine, the NHL needs parity to survive. GMs need to stop overpaying for UFA plugs

 

[klingsor]

I think it not only helps the small market teams but also protects a stupid big market team( my Rangers) from spending tons of money on crappy teams.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Get rid of guaranteed contracts. The talent pool that the NHL can draw from is tiny but there are so many garbage players in the league that honestly don't deserve to be in the NHL.

The NFL system is perfect

 

[Bounces R Way]

I think it's mostly fine and accomplishes what it sets out to do. COVID and the resulting escrow really screwed it up. If 5 years from now 3/4 of the league is still operating within a million or two of the cap limit then something has gone terribly wrong. I wouldn't mind them introducing some mechanisms like more compliance buyouts, franchise/homegrown discount tags, or at least a way to structure retention in a way that allows GMs to be more creative.

Like take for instance Erik Karlsson. Great player having a great year on a shit team. Basically untradeable due to his contract, even though an Erik Karlsson trade would help hockey wise the team acquiring him on the ice, the team trading him build assets, the player himself have a shot at winning, and the league's fans who want to see more great players playing meaningful hockey into the spring. SJ should be allowed to retain 40% or whatever for this season and maybe the next, then bring that % down for the subsequent two.

 

[bobholly39]

I think it's fine honestly

Biggest thing I dislike is that it hasn't gone up in a few years, but it's due to covid which was unexpected.

 

[Evergreen]

It's fine the way it is. It just seems particularly restrictive now because GMs and owners were used to the cap rising predictably for 15 years and the pandemic blindsided them. Any softening of the hard cap will have the effect of making it completely ineffective. We've seen that in the NBA.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

A soft cap would be an absolute nightmare.

You really want an MLB scenario where the Dodgers and Yankees just buy all the good players?

 

[Voight]

this. or have 1 compliance buyout option every summer. some players get too comfortable after getting a big cushy contract

Horrible idea.

 

[King Karl]

What if rather than simply handing one out each summer, teams could "buy" one in exchange for relatively substantial draft capital?

Horrible idea.

 

[North Cole]

Hell no. A soft cap is dumb, you either have a cut off and a boundary, or you don't. A soft cap is just a money grab via the luxury tax, but would do nothing with the split they have.

 

[Sabresruletheschool]

this. or have 1 compliance buyout option every summer. some players get too comfortable after getting a big cushy contract

I like this idea. I might tweak it to every two or three years or something. A big market team could be pretty dumb if they get to buy out a contract every year.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Horrible idea.

I think you'd need a lot of stipulations to make it work. Like, a team can't buy out a guy they've acquired in the last calendar year or two seasons or something. So a team can't go offer a 34-year-old a $40m deal over 5 years one summer with the intent of just paying him out after a season or two.

But looking at situations like the Flyers have, you realize how the most rigid current rules can hurt competition/parity. Certainly have a bunch of boneheaded contracts they shouldn't have signed, but they also have $20m tied up in guys who may not play hockey again (Ellis, Couturier, Atkinson). The LTIR system creates relief in-season, but a team with a couple forever-injured players on long-term/big-dollar deals can't do much to improve during the offseason. That's no one's fault (unless the medical team screwed up), that's often just bad luck.

The rigid cap encourages teams to push contracts longer to get players paid what they deserve while still remaining cap compliant, and then people get frustrated when teams engage in LTIR f***ery to make up for lost talent. It's a tough, violent game and I think there should probably be at least a small relief valve for teams when injuries turn key players into major cap obstacles.

I like the earlier suggestion of potentially tying buyouts to say, a draft penalty or something. You definitely need to make a system that can't be overused and abused. But I think teams should have options. It's pretty hard to stay engaged following a team when you know it's gonna be handcuffed competitively for the next 5 years because two guys had unfortunate freak injuries or something—losing the players' contributions is bad enough.

 

[EK392000]

What is we could trade cap space? What if I gave Buffalo a first for 5 million of their cap for two seasons? Then my team's cap increases by 5 million.

 

[MessierII]

It’s tight right now because of Covid. In principle it was working great.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

it's fine, GMs need to be smarter

 

[Auston Escobar]

Soft cap/luxury tax/franchise tag, whatever it is just loosen it up. Every single contender in the league is either maxed or over the cap with LTIR.

It’s boring from a general fan perspective that teams can’t really go all out in pursuit of a cup. Plus it’s frustrating as hell losing good players/fan favourites every year to UFA solely due to cap constraints.

 

[Sun God Nika]

It feels good to root for a team that is responsible with its cap and not having to worry about another team trying to snag up one of your free agents because they weren’t responsible with theirs