achtungbaby
Registered User
- Oct 31, 2006
- 4,792
- 25
I confess, I can't even remember if the NHL used to have this at all. I'm completely ignorant on this one and am too lazy (at work as well) to spend the time looking it up.
SPCs under the old (pre-lockout) CBA permitted both Player and Team options. These options were grandfathered in under the new CBA.
The new CBA did away with them to simplify how cap hits are calculated and to avoid possible cap circumvention.
Cap hits are calculated based on contract averages - total of salary and potential bonuses divided by the number of years.
How do you calculate that average if an SPC has team or player options (or both for different amounts), unconditional or conditional based on performance, with or without payments due in lieu of exercising?
The transition rules of Exhibit 16 defined how the grandfathered options were handled.
It doesn't count against the cap that year unless the said team or player (or both) agrees to pick up that extra year, no? Would this really affect that many teams? They could have easily made the cutoff date somewhere before the UFA date on July 1st and the end of the regular season couldn't they?
I must be missing something I'm not thinking of. I can't see how cap circumvention comes into play here.
Is it these long term contracts that lower cap hits?
It allow a team to shift around cap hits, defeating the purpose of averaging the cap hits.
Hypothetically, a team (with cap space available in the first two years) could sign a player to a $15M/3 yr SPC - $9M,$5M, and $1M(option). Rather than having a $5M/yr cap hit, it would have $7M, $7M, $1M - giving the team a $5M/yr player for a cap hit of $1M.
It doesn't count against the cap that year unless the said team or player (or both) agrees to pick up that extra year, no? Would this really affect that many teams? They could have easily made the cutoff date somewhere before the UFA date on July 1st and the end of the regular season couldn't they?
I must be missing something I'm not thinking of. I can't see how cap circumvention comes into play here.
Is it these long term contracts that lower cap hits?
It doesn't count against the cap that year unless the said team or player (or both) agrees to pick up that extra year, no? Would this really affect that many teams? They could have easily made the cutoff date somewhere before the UFA date on July 1st and the end of the regular season couldn't they?
I must be missing something I'm not thinking of. I can't see how cap circumvention comes into play here.
Is it these long term contracts that lower cap hits?
It could be player option as well though. What player would agree to a $1 million dollar option year? Even if it was only a team option, why would a player sign the said deal?