I don't think you understand the concept of a cap dump.
A productive player signed to a reasonable contract for what he brings to the table is not a cap dump.
It is not inaccurate, IMO, to consider that a player, productive or otherwise, who is a lesser piece in a deal, being moved not for productive balance but added specifically to get cap balance on salary, regardless of how large or small his salary is, functions as and thus can legit be viewed, IMO as 'a cap dump'.
What you are talking about is productive value vs salary cost, one such player compared to another [if I understand you correctly].
Comments like this just prove how ignorant 99% of HF is when it comes to players outside their own team.
Lets do some simple math... Colorado as a team scored 166 goals, MacKinnon had 53 pts meaning he was in on 53 of 166 goals, which means he was in on 53/166= 32% of Colorado's goals.
Zibanejad has 37/56=.66 pts per game*82 games= 54pts if he had played 82 games. So NYR scored 256 goals meaning had he been healthy all year he'd been in on 54/256= 21% of the team goals.
Had MacKinnon been on the Rangers this year and produced at a similar rate he'd scored 256*.32 = 81pts.
MacKinnon actually had a really solid year, it's not his fault that our team was completely incompetent, he did everything he could to contribute. In fact if you break down the numbers his 32% rate was with elite company. Crosby's rate was 31.5%, Backstrom was at 32%, P. Kane was 36%, McDavid was highest in the league at 40%.
I guarantee that over the next 5 seasons Zibanejab and MacKinnon will not have similar production rates, MacKinnon will blow Zibby out of the water. Numbers are on my side assuming that Colorado actually does something to get a better supporting cast. As that is the one thing a player can't control.
The whole point of Rangers overpaying for MacK is not just ^, but expectation there would be a synergy of him, Kreider and a fast C, presumably Miller.
Of course, there's overpayment, and there's a point at which it's too much to make sense.
bernmeister proposals are the best.
A --- you're too kind
B --- who am I to argue?