Quote:
Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix
Ya I agree as per the last 3 sentences of my post. Kopitar or not, there is potential for trying times ahead in LA. Imagine if they re-sign Lucic? Like I said, it's more the accumulation of so many other bad contracts that might make this one a tough pill for LA down the road, especially if Kopitar takes any kind of a step back over the next 8 years.
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Yes... only potential. The real problem isn't Kopitar, its Brown, Gaborik and maybe Carter. But in 3 years (this year not inclusive) but Brown and Carter's cap hit drop to $3M making them prime for team looking to reach the cap floor. The real cost during the trying times for LA may not be cap jail, but for 2 years they'll probably have to ship off some 2nd round picks.
Again... the contracts may be committing but you can't be assuming. There is also a expansion draft coming up with 2 teams that will have more cap room then opportunities, both of which need skill and name players to sell tickets. Maybe Las Vegas will see the opportunity for a star player in Jeff Carter to sell tickets. Maybe Quebec will eat the 2 years of Dustin Brown or Gaborik's contract in exchange for extra 2nd rounders as they build up their team.
Or maybe we'll see another 2 free compliance buyouts next CBA as increasing coaching costs will require a salary cap rollback, similar to last year... LA only needs 3 get-out-of-jail-free-cards, and I see 4 get-out-of-jail-free-cards opportunities coming up before they will need to package draft picks for cap dumps.