Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Of course salary matters.
But there are two separate things here:
1) building a team - where salary matters a TON.
2) actual play on the ice. Once they are on the ice, their salary is irrelevant. It just comes down to winning.
Bonino played great in the playoffs. Whether he was making $1M or $5M doesn't change how he played.
This conversation has been about the on ice factor.
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I disagree. Let's say Stamkos playing at 50% of his effort is better than what Craig Smith plays like at 100% capacity, therefore a teams value for every dollar spent is justified in Stamkos being paid 8.5 million to play better than any capacity of Smith, who's being paid 4.25 million. Even assuming Stamkos is only putting in 10% of his effort, he's still better than Rinaldo at 100% capacity, then likewise, it's better to have 8.5 million in a 10% of a Stamkos than it is to have 850K full-effort Rinaldo.
But is there really any reason a player should only be playing to 10% of their effort? I wouldn't suggest that Stamkos is justified in playing only 50% or 10%, and nor should any player. To suggest it doesn't matter what a player makes as long as they're the best on-ice product is to suggest it doesnt matter if Stamkos makes 100 million a year or 8.5 million so long as he's a better option than anyone else available.
When a high paid player is garbage, it's poisonous to the team. Horcoff was always answering to the media about his production levels and all he said was that he was trying his best. Fans didn't want him on their team and even management shipped him out when it was possible. But he was the best centre option the Oilers had during those bad years. Horcoff continued to play hockey, and once he made reasonable money, nobody complianed about him.
Because hockey is not about on-ice product. It's about entertainment. Just because you expect your circus clown to be in tip top shape and produce great juggling stats for their salary doesn't mean they're still not a circus clown. People want to cheer for their players, and hence they buy jerseys and tickets and TV packages. If you had a highly paid roster who's only putting in a lackluster effort (ie, 2011 Flames), people are no longer entertained so it does matter.