I'm sure it comes up. But I'm saying the free agents are going to the Florida teams now because they are really good hockey teams. Why wasn't this a big issue 10 years ago for the Panthers? Why did the Rangers and leafs still dominate free agency?
The tax thing is icing. The draw is playing for well managed teams that are poised to compete for the Cup.
The city.
The team.
The money.
Those three things have been the primary considerations for any player in any sport forever. Some guys have different rankings, and others have different weights within the rankings.
All that stuff slides along a scale.
Is it a draw to join a team with potential? Of course. Would that situation be as interesting if that team was offering you 70% of what you could get elsewhere? No. Would that situation be as interesting if the city the team played in was hot garbage? No.
Would some guys ignore major flaws in one or two of those categories if the other things were great? Sure.
It's really difficult to know with any degree of certainty why players choose to go where they go. Even if players comment on it honestly, and there's no value in them doing so, they're going to be fairly vague.
The Florida teams are obviously a superior destination now than they were 10 years ago because a) the teams are better now and b) those teams are spending more money now.
Before the 04 lockout, the Wings were spending ~17 mil more than the Lightning and Panthers combined, and 6 other teams were spending as much or more than those two clubs combined were.
