Deleted member 3032
Guest
So what was solved?
By the cap? It helps equalize the playing field, although I don't think that was the main goal of a cap (although many teams I'm sure want that). It does allow smaller market teams to attract big name UFA's, though. It also DOES help them sign their players, but you have to look harder at how it makes it possible. Teams like Ottawa, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, etc don't have to spend as much money to afford their own players. This means that can field a better team for the same money than they otherwise would be able to. Teams like Colorado, Toronto, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, etc can't spend as much money as they could before, preventing them from out bidding other teams constantly for other players, which in turn also raises the prices (by comparability) of players on other teams.
It is a big circular effect that helps teams in different ways. Big market teams can now spend significantly less money without any public backlash, since they literally can't spend more money, and therefore make a larger margin of profit (or not lose as much money). Small market teams gain the ability to put up more competitive teams by making the money they spend buy more and therefore the ability to spend more money then they could before (since a more successful team typically leads to more income).
The biggest thing the cap does is help insure teams of making a profit, and (also very important) increasing the value of their teams. A cap removes a decent amount of risk from every team. Less risk will raise the value of the teams (I hope I don't have to explain why).