nyrmessier011
Registered User
I've had this question in my head for quite some time and I can't seem to figure it out. Maybe it has been mentioned in the negotiations and I have missed it, but how does the league plan to deal with guaranteed money when the cap number may change from year to year. Under linkage the number will change from year to year, right? Or am I just out of my skull??...because I thought under linkage, the cap number can change each year based on 54%.
Anyway, if the number does change each year, what happens when NYR for example, has guaranteed contracts worth $36 million for the 2006-07 season, but the cap lowers to $32 million based on 54%. Do they get penalized for being over the cap, or will this be an exception since at the time of guaranteeing contracts, they were under the cap for that year? Some years teams might be forced to be over the cap is what I'm saying. From that, one can now ask how can teams plan for future success when they don't know what the cap number will be each of the next 5 seasons.
Maybe I'm mis-understanding what this linkage system actually is, but if I'm right, can someone explain to me how the hell the NHL plans to work under a hard cap WITH linkage AND guaranteed contracts?
Anyway, if the number does change each year, what happens when NYR for example, has guaranteed contracts worth $36 million for the 2006-07 season, but the cap lowers to $32 million based on 54%. Do they get penalized for being over the cap, or will this be an exception since at the time of guaranteeing contracts, they were under the cap for that year? Some years teams might be forced to be over the cap is what I'm saying. From that, one can now ask how can teams plan for future success when they don't know what the cap number will be each of the next 5 seasons.
Maybe I'm mis-understanding what this linkage system actually is, but if I'm right, can someone explain to me how the hell the NHL plans to work under a hard cap WITH linkage AND guaranteed contracts?