Speculation: What If The Salary Cap Goes Down?

[Cousin Eddie]

Seems like a very real possibility. If this happens what teams will have no choice but to shed salary? What does it mean for free agents? Can somebody like Taylor Hall for example get anywhere near what everyone expects?

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[ThatsSoSlavin]

I think if the cap went up Hall would be looking around 11, if the cap were alto stagnate I’d seen him signing for 11/12 for a crappy team or 9/9.5 for a contender

 

[Baksfamous112]

Tampa Bay comes to mind.

If the cap really stay flat or goes down, that’s a HUGE advantage for Montreal and Bergevin

 

[Linds]

For the sake of the Maple Leafs I hope the cap goes down

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

already a thread on this since March 12th...

Salary Cap may go down due to Covid-19 (Coronavirus)

 

[93gilmour93]

I think if the cap went up Hall would be looking around 11, if the cap were alto stagnate I’d seen him signing for 11/12 for a crappy team or 9/9.5 for a contender

With the whole situation going on right now and with the season Hall had I can't see any team offering him more than 7.5. No chance he's worth 9 to 12 million dollars

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Chaos and also some RFAs not signing in time to play next season cause teams just wont have the room.

I dunno but maybe the NHL/NHLPA can agree on an extra buyout per team or something if cap goes down? I really have no idea what will happen... all I know is a lot of teams will be extremely screwed if cap goes down

 

[FreeMcdavid]

1.compliance buyouts will be put into place.

or

2 NHLPA would have to agree to pay more into escrow during the next season or 2 until they get back to a state of high revenue to ensure a flat cap or higher cap.

 

[cwede]

if Cap goes down, teams over new Cap do not need to immediately comply, but any deal they make must be Cap Hit reducing

any team under Cap that wants to object, citing unfair advantage, that team gets transferred to it a player and Cap Hit from a Cap-over team, the choice being up to the Cap-over team

for every high Cap team, what's pushing them over the Cap are very most likely bad, big-ticket contracts

 

[TGWL]

if Cap goes down, teams over new Cap do not need to immediately comply, but any deal they make must be Cap Hit reducing

any team under Cap that wants to object, citing unfair advantage, that team gets transferred to it a player and Cap Hit from a Cap-over team, the choice being up to the Cap-over team

for every high Cap team, what's pushing them over the Cap are very most likely bad, big-ticket contracts

I don't like this idea. It punishes team with cap that was planning on going after players during Free Agency, while teams that over the cap can keep their players without worrying about it.

 

[Mr Positive]

Isn't the cap falling due to the performance of the 2019-20 season? Therefore, isn't freezing the cap prudent since it applies to the 2020-21 season? It seems like the cap rising and falling is supposed to be a reaction that depends on trends. Covid is an event, not a trend.

 

[Hunter368]

As a Jets fan I have no issues with the cap going down, Jets have a significant amount of open cap space with players walking away as UFA’s and Buff contract termination. Cap going down will bring some other teams down though.

 

[ThatsSoSlavin]

With the whole situation going on right now and with the season Hall had I can't see any team offering him more than 7.5. No chance he's worth 9 to 12 million dollars

I agree on his value but some team will offer 9+ and I’d bet money on that

 

[Legion34]

When has it ever went down?

it’s a 50/50 split. If the issue is that GMs paid money for a full 2019 season and playoffs.... the players owe the money for the games they didn’t play and the subsequent losses to even it up


They owe the money THIS year. Not next year.

Next year is still a 50/50 split. If they lower the cap to 75 million and the revenues support 85 million then the owners have to pay the revenues for next season back.

makes no sense unless the cap will be effected for years.

 

[Jumptheshark]

It will go down

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

For the sake of Hall this off season you are looking at a couple options. If the cap goes up drastically (like 3M+, least likely) then teams will overpay to get him. If the cap goes up a bit (1-2M, becuase they finish the season but sales arent high) then he might sign in the 9.5M range to compete. If the cap stays stagnant (fairly likely, due to season not being finished) he will have to sign in the 9.5M or less range to play. If the cap goes down (fairly likely). There is a decent chance teams will be given a compliance buyout and he will be signed for 9.5+. Its kind of like supply and demand, if teams have to focus more on being cap compliant then the demand for UFA's will go down

 

[nbwingsfan]

With the whole situation going on right now and with the season Hall had I can't see any team offering him more than 7.5. No chance he's worth 9 to 12 million dollars

Didn’t Hayes just get $7.5M?

One slightly down (half) season playing for two very bad offensive teams doesn’t bring Hall down to Hayes territory. Even if the Cap drops he’s getting over $9M easily

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

With the whole situation going on right now and with the season Hall had I can't see any team offering him more than 7.5. No chance he's worth 9 to 12 million dollars

Um, what? You don’t see one single team offering more than $7.5M to a guy who won the Hart Trophy two years ago? Have you not seen what $7.5M gets you in today’s league?

 

[93gilmour93]

Didn’t Hayes just get $7.5M?

One slightly down (half) season playing for two very bad offensive teams doesn’t bring Hall down to Hayes territory. Even if the Cap drops he’s getting over $9M easily

But what has he done outside of one great season? He scored 30 goals once and hit over 70 points once in the last 7 years. He's got 5 total playoff games in his career which doesn't help anything either. Hall is so overrated and won't get 9 million

 

[93gilmour93]

Um, what? You don’t see one single team offering more than $7.5M to a guy who won the Hart Trophy two years ago? Have you not seen what $7.5M gets you in today’s league?

With a potential of the cap going down and his numbers outside of the one good year 7.5 or 8 tops for a desperate team

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

With a potential of the cap going down and his numbers outside of the one good year 7.5 or 8 tops for a desperate team

So you think his absolute ceiling is $1M less than what Jeff Skinner got?

 

[93gilmour93]

So you think his absolute ceiling is $1M less than what Jeff Skinner got?

That's the effects of what's happening with the money lost due to the virus. The awful Skinner contract has nothing to do with how this is a bad year to be a ufa and that Hall is just not as good as some people think

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

With a potential of the cap going down and his numbers outside of the one good year 7.5 or 8 tops for a desperate team

If the cap goes down there is a pretty solid chance of amnesty buyouts. This would result in an increase in cap space for a decent amount of teams. Thus raising the demand for UFA's and bringing the price to sign them back up. There is almost no scenario where Hall will be signing for 7.5M maybe 8.5 with a competitor if the cap remains the same.

 

[nbwingsfan]

But what has he done outside of one great season? He scored 30 goals once and hit over 70 points once in the last 7 years. He's got 5 total playoff games in his career which doesn't help anything either. Hall is so overrated and won't get 9 million

Kevin Hayes has scored over 50pts once in his career (52) and 20 goals once.


Taylor hall has scored over 50pts 7 times, 4 seasons of over PPG, and a career high of 93pts which included a Hart Trophy.

You think these guys will be paid about the same?

 

[Flyer lurker]

The stars of NHL will get paid no matter if cap goes up 5m or down 5m.

Hall, Alex P. and Krug are safe. If question is do i want my team paying 9.5m for Hall then the answer is bleep no. Hall is in the the very very good category not elite.

Now the lesser free agents is a different story. The Ceci's, Gudas's the Brassard's will get signed but they might take a 10-20% less in salary.

Comparing Hall to Hayes in this case is apples and oranges. You may ask if Flyers had doubts about Patrick and were desperate for a center. Hayes is best forward on pk for Flyers and Flyers are night and day better on pk (how much is talent and how much is coaching you decide). Hayes is 45-50 point 2 way c. You are signing Hall for 40 goals scored which Hayes is/was never intended for.