Why don't NHL ever resort to a "soft cap" system?

Djp

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Jul 28, 2012
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The way NBA does this is reaching the salary cap means you have to pay luxury tax depending on how over the cap you are. While it might be as simple as signing the big names and going over the cap to pay tax, teams constantly try to avoid that. I think that excess tax money goes to the league. In the NHL if you went over the cap, you simply can't play.

Why don't NHL ever adopt a soft cap system with tax? This way it would give better revenue sharing and players can get paid what they're truly worth. I feel like hockey will players will never get paid more (despite enormous investment in that sport from a young age vs basketball) because teams can't afford to touch the cap. Even if you're gonna get superteams, it's not like it's a guarantee to win the cup because as ppl say "hockey is too random". I mean can you really guarantee to win the cup with a full 2 lines of superstars + rest are role players + a superstar goalie?

ok disgruntled toronto fan who thinks we can buy are way to an all star team to get a cup....
 
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Djp

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Jul 28, 2012
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You could go to percent of cap salary model for player salaries. You could have 2-3 franchise star# that are exempt from the cap. These players must be league designated stars.
 
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Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
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Extremely simplistic way of viewing it.

The hard cap wasn't meant to crush strong teams and prevent them from winning multiple Cups or provide a new Cup winner every year. It means that smaller market teams could actually be one of those teams that wins multiple Cups.

Pittsburgh is a great example as they're tied with Chicago for most Cup wins in the hard cap era. How exactly have their MLB counterparts fared in a luxury-tax system over that time frame?

There have been 20 teams to make it to the Cup Finals in the hard cap era - including Carolina, New Jersey, Nashville, St. Louis, Edmonton and Ottawa. Tampa Bay is not a major market, but they've been able to build a powerhouse team (that the hard cap is going to make it difficult to keep together). There's nothing stopping the smallest market teams like Florida from having the same type of success.

The hard cap absolutely does aid in the competitive balance of the league.
20 teams over that period of time is pretty much the going rate. Hockey does not have this special parity relative to other sports.

MLB has the most, actually. 27/30 teams have been to the LCS this century, including every AL team. As a Yankees fan, I really wish I lived in this imaginary universe where we've won 25 out of the last 30. Sounds fun.

It's clear these comments come from people who only watch hockey.
 

HBK27

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20 teams over that period of time is pretty much the going rate. Hockey does not have this special parity relative to other sports.

MLB has the most, actually. 27/30 teams have been to the LCS this century, including every AL team. As a Yankees fan, I really wish I lived in this imaginary universe where we've won 25 out of the last 30. Sounds fun.

It's clear these comments come from people who only watch hockey.

Yeah, must be really tough being a Yankee fan in this system where they've won more than 58% of their games this century, never had a losing season and finished 1st or 2nd in their division 18 of the past 21 years.

I'm sure being able to vastly outspend 3 of the other 4 teams had little to do with this, right?
 
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Machinehead

GoAwayKakko
Jan 21, 2011
141,167
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NYC
Yeah, must be really tough being a Yankee fan in this system where they've won more than 58% of their games this century and finished 1st or 2nd in their division 18 of the past 21 years.

I'm sure being able to vastly outspend 3 of the other 4 teams had little to do with this, right?
The Yankees are an internal cap team, actually.
 

tmlms13

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Apr 11, 2012
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I'm fine keeping the hard cap but there needs to be some kind sliding scale of a cap hit for keeping your own players.

It's the you're too good at drafting and developing your players you have to trade them for pennies or let them walk for nothing.
 

iamjs

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Oct 1, 2008
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Wouldn’t mind a system where 2 players of the teams choice don’t count towards the cap.
You could go to percent of cap salary model for player salaries. You could have 2-3 franchise star# that are exempt from the cap. These players must be league designated stars.

Two players is too much. You can hide almost 18 million in cap space in that scenario without putting players on IR, depending on the team.

My suggestion would be one "franchise player" with 10 years service AND 600 GP, where the franchise player tag could only be added on a new contract.

Originally I was going to suggest this being with the team that drafted the player, but this wouldn't be fair to players who were traded early in their career. That allows for a player to miss 2.5 seasons (or about 27% of their possible games) due to injuries, scratches, developing late, or whatever and still be eligible. It allows a player to strive to being a franchise player and finishing their career with one team without having to worry about whether the team will have cap space for their last big contract. It might also cut down on the long 7-8 year contracts, knowing that the player could possibly have a "franchise player" designation in their future.
 

tmlms13

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Apr 11, 2012
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You could go to percent of cap salary model for player salaries. You could have 2-3 franchise star# that are exempt from the cap. These players must be league designated stars.

It would have to be based on service time with that team and I'd put in a requirement that the player has spent his entire career with that team.
 

BWJM

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Soft cap is what makes the NBA one of the easiest leagues to bet on.. The games can be predictable with all the super teams... then again who knows when Irving's going to need a sudden "personal" leave of absence.

I like how the NHL does it. All the teams are generally competitive.
 

tucker3434

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The NBA owners have been trying to get rid of their soft cap system for a long time now. They haven't succeeded in killing it yet, but the past several CBA's have seen their soft cap system continually reduced and penalties increased.

The first response is a great answer.

The soft cap is just a stepping stone towards a hard cap that the NHL owners managed to skip. They won that battle already. Unless the NHLPA wants to give some massive concession, it's never going to be on the table.
 

412 Others

5Cups beats 2Cups
Mar 24, 2009
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Black + Gold = Pittsburgh
There are 2 things that I like. Tanking, and the hard salary cap. The cap is very necessary - population should not drive team success. The most vocal opponents of the hard cap seem to come from the same 3-4 densely populated cities. Hmmm, wonder why.
 
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Melrose Munch

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Mar 18, 2007
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There are 2 things that I like. Tanking, and the hard salary cap. The cap is very necessary - population should not drive team success. The most vocal opponents of the hard cap seem to come from the same 3-4 densely populated cities. Hmmm, wonder why.
Probably because they aren't band wagoners who go back to their football or basketball team when things get rough...
 

412 Others

5Cups beats 2Cups
Mar 24, 2009
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Black + Gold = Pittsburgh
Population also creates the illusion of "diehard fandom", which unfortunately allows for fans of 3-4 teams to smugly shout "bandwagoners" from the mountaintops. The hard cap creates a level playing field, and some of these fans simply don't have the stomach for it.
 
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Golden_Jet

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Sep 21, 2005
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I wish the folks in charge with the NHL would be honest with themselves about the importance of having strong teams in the Original Six cities and also U.S. cities like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington and Pittsburgh. Replace the Salary Cap with a Luxury Tax, and let teams spend as much as they want - and tax the big spenders accordingly. That would be a lot more fair than the present system where the Maple Leafs are hamstrung by the Salary Cap and have to write a cheque for their have-not cousins. If the Leafs were free to bolster their blueline the way they bolstered their forward lines, they would be able to make a good long run in the playoffs. Think of the revenue for the team and the league. Plus, a Leafs team like that would be a big draw in every city in the NHL. Each of the big spending teams would similarly be a big draw.

Or maybe they shouldn’t overpay players, so they can put in a more balanced team
 

Golden_Jet

Registered User
Sep 21, 2005
22,233
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I'm fine keeping the hard cap but there needs to be some kind sliding scale of a cap hit for keeping your own players.

It's the you're too good at drafting and developing your players you have to trade them for pennies or let them walk for nothing.

Happened to Ottawa after the 2005 cap came in.
 

DJJones

Registered User
Nov 18, 2014
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Calgary
NBA cap system is horrible. A hard cap with no max contract would be way more entertaining.

Just twenty teams tanking while a few every year load up and spend shit tons. Like what does the majority of the leagues fans even do?
 

Pyrophorus

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Jun 1, 2009
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I wish the folks in charge with the NHL would be honest with themselves about the importance of having strong teams in the Original Six cities and also U.S. cities like Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington and Pittsburgh. Replace the Salary Cap with a Luxury Tax, and let teams spend as much as they want - and tax the big spenders accordingly. That would be a lot more fair than the present system where the Maple Leafs are hamstrung by the Salary Cap and have to write a cheque for their have-not cousins. If the Leafs were free to bolster their blueline the way they bolstered their forward lines, they would be able to make a good long run in the playoffs. Think of the revenue for the team and the league. Plus, a Leafs team like that would be a big draw in every city in the NHL. Each of the big spending teams would similarly be a big draw.

The Leafs D isn't a big problem.
 

Svechhammer

THIS is hockey?
Jun 8, 2017
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Main forum thread about eliminating or relaxing the cap can only mean one thing. Leafs were recently eliminated from Cup contention.
 

nickschultzfan

Registered User
Jan 7, 2009
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NBA soft cap system is a nightmare.

NHL hard cap works reasonably well. Clubs like the Leafs have struggled not because of the hard cap, but because they slept on their blueline and internal development of bottom-6 players, and spent +$10m/year on Marner as an RFA coming off his rookie deal.
 

psycat

Registered User
Oct 25, 2016
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Imagine spending your time obsessing over that multimillionaires extraordinaire "don't earn enough" for doing little of importance.
 

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