What are some contract structures from other leagues that NHL should adopt?

[Davimir Tarablad]

Allow cap retention where a team keeps a portion of the cap hit, but does not pay salary and allow salary retention where they pay a portion of the salary but have no cap hit.

Also teams to retain different amounts per year left on the contract traded.

 

[The Macho King]

I like guaranteed contracts. Adds a significant risk to FA.

Franchise tags could work (although arguably arbitration serves the same function).

Also - this isn't something other leagues have, but instead of having contracts set as a dollar amount, set them as percent of cap.

 

[tsanuri]

Almost everything here seems pro owner.
Soft cap not hard with a luxury tax. That kills escrow right there.
A Bird type rule. Allowing you to sign players you developed to better contracts that are partly cap exempt.

 

[Fugazy]

I like guaranteed contracts. Adds a significant risk to FA.

Franchise tags could work (although arguably arbitration serves the same function).

Also - this isn't something other leagues have, but instead of having contracts set as a dollar amount, set them as percent of cap.

I'm fine with guaranteed contracts as well.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

I really like baseball's service time model, as opposed to UFA being granted at a certain age.

 

[Spade]

The escalator is not solely to blame. The cap is set based on the midpoint for the players' share actually be 50% of the revenue, the teams would have to spend on average to cap midpoint. In 2016-2017 all but three teams spent above the midpoint and 14 teams were within one million of the cap. Even without escalator substantial escrow would be needed to balance the difference. If they would like to decrease escrow, the next CBA would have to change formula for the cap (for example setting cap only 6 million above the midpoint while letting floor fall 10 below or even 4/12 split around the midpoint).

Funnily enough, Gary Bettman said as much in 2005. IIRC he said something to the effect of the cap ceiling inevitably becoming a "magnet" as teams would naturally gravitate to that number salary-wise.

In the end, the cap came as is and we've seen exactly what Bettman described every single season since the 05 lockout.

 

[Sens Rule]

What does this mean and how does it work?

No guaranted contracts mean another lost season to a strike/lockout.

Players will never, ever go for this. Players go for this when they accept jelly beans instead of US dollars to play.

 

[Guardian17]

Non guaranteed contracts.

This would be my first choice.

Like the NFL, if you do not perform, you're gone.

 

[AUAIOMRN]

The NFL can do non-guaranteed contracts because it has no competition from any other league. Where else are players going to go? The CFL? There they earn 1/30 of what they would in the NFL.

Compare that to hockey where players can go play in Europe and still earn a good living. The NHL can't just "do whatever it wants" if it wants to remain the premiere hockey league in the world.

 

[Rick74*]

less guaranteed salary and more bonus incentives...

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

The ability for teams to have "option years" for contracts signed when the player is > 27 years old. Only the last 1/3 of the contract length can be option years, and teams can re-negotiate with the players if the option is not picked up.

In exchange, the NHLPA gets higher minimum salaries and maybe another small something.

 

[Caeldan]

This would be my first choice.

Like the NFL, if you do not perform, you're gone.

And if you do perform, you hold your team hostage until they give you a raise.
It goes both ways. And guaranteed is the way to go, keeps contracts semi-sane and you don't have to worry about holdouts either.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

You can cut anyone from your roster for a myriad of reasons. It works in the NFL because careers are short and rosters have 55 players. It's a guaranteed lockout if the owners tried to implement it in the NHL.

It exists in the NFL because they have an extremely weak players union.

 

[Voight]

What are contracts like in the MLB/NBA/NFL? I don't really watch anything but hockey and golf.

NFL, only some of the contract is guaranteed. Changes from player to player, i.e last summer Von Miller sign a 114 million dollar deal, only 70 mil was guaranteed. So if he gets released before it ends, he wont get the full value. You can also restructure contracts in the NFL, i.e the Caps could re-structure Ovy's deal to make the cap hit smaller but incur cap penalties in the future.

One thing the NFL has that the NHL should get, is the franchise tag. It basically makes a UFA an RFA and prohibits them from signing elsewhere, it's a way to help small market teams keep their star players and give them more time to negotiate.

NBA they are similar to the NHL but sometimes teams guarantee one year of a two year deal, or a deal becomes fully guaranteed after a certain date or certain amount of games played. Plus player/team options are very popular. There's also ways around the cap limit via mid-level exceptions and veteran exceptions, designated player exceptions too.

MLB is fully guaranteed like the NHL but player & team options are used a lot. Thing is, they have the whole service time system and arbitration system, so most players generally don't hit free agency until their late 20's, unless they make the MLB early like Bryce Harper for example.