LMAO, who cares if the players lose some money? Perhaps this was already considered by the NHLPA when they designed the Escrow section of the CBA... One would think that if your average fan could spot this, several highly educated and well compensated businessmen and lawyers would have? Maybe I'm expecting too much though.
If the NHLPA was concerned about this, there would be a lower cap. Then again, in my mind, this means the same thing... less money for the players? Perhaps the 39million cap was agreed to because both sides were already satisfied with this mark as the maximum ???
Any fan who thought the CBA was going to shrink the salary of the top players was dillusional... supply and demand my friend... those in demand will always make the dollars. It's the players who are not in high demand that will take the big hits... which in my world makes perfect sense.
However.. yes. The teams who are spending 2/3 or 3/4 of their cap on a couple players, and then a token to fill the rest of the spots will suck; just as when teams spent 2/3 or 3/4 of the budget before the CBA. It's just poor management.
Surely you didn't expect all the crappy GM's and owners to suddenly become smart after the CBA? It appears to me that all the good GM's are still good... Also, as some with sense has pointed out several times, it will take a couple years for the effect of the cap to kick in... ONCE all the teams have a finalized roster and are near their spending limit/cap. Once this happens, it will be much more difficult to absorb large salaries and to find money to sign new players.
Once again, anyone who expected the CBA to change things the day after it was signed is crazy. Give it time.. give it time.