What if all contracts were signed as percentages of the cap?
So players salaries would go up and down (basically up) yr to yr with the cap.
It would be a completely different way of talking and discussing player worth...
So with respect to the cap... We would be referencing Player worth/value as a fractions of the cap...
basically shifting focus off of dollars amounts and focusing on values relative to team's cap.
A few examples to show what i'm talking about:
Present cap: $70 mil.
Some cap hits this season and % of total cap:
Ovechkin, 9.5mil - 13.6%
Crosby, 8.7mil - 12.4%
Stamkos, 7.5mil - 10.7%
......... 7mil - 10% (Rinne, Spezza, Iginla, Doughty, Thornton, Chara)
Karlsson, 6.5mil - 9.3%
Quick, 5.8mil - 8.3%
......... 5.6mil - 8%
Schneider, 4mil - 5.7%
......... 3.5mil - 5.0%
......... 1.0mil - 1.4%
Make min wage 1% of the cap? (700K this yr)
Typical 23 man roster:
Average salary on a mid-cap team (62mil): 2.7% (1.89mil)
So looking at % (rough estimates):
Min wage guys: 1%
4th line guys: 1-2%
3rd line, bottom pair, backup goalies: 2-4%
2nd line, 2nd pair, promising young #1's: 3-7%
Top line, top pairing, est #1 goalies: 6 and up
the elite franchise players would be around the 10% level..
So players sign deals on percentages.. Schneider signs a 3 yr 5.7% deal
Instead of management working salaries into a cap, they'll be working the players % into their cap matrix..
A cap floor team will be looking to add up to (54mil): 77% (or just the cap floor as 75% of the cap)
Pros - players will always be paid market value.. market inflation always accounted for.
Players will never be considered overpaid again. They may be considered overvalued if a team places too great a % on a player...
Cons - teams never having a player's contract value drop against the cap as they presently do.
It would change the language we use... the canucks have 10% in cap space.. Do you think they could get Suter for 10? Is he really worth 10 in this league for the next decade?
It would definitely change everything that goes into the structuring of present contracts and planning of future rosters.. or how players compare to each other on other teams.. arbitration... etc etc..
Too radical to grasp?
Too weird?