Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden
I get the sense that Tkachuck wants to the Austin Mathews Special, where we can hit free agency again before he is 30. I wouldn't be surprised if his ask were 11M for 5 years.
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I wouldn't characterize it as the Matthews special. Matthews was closer to the likes of even Gaudreau's past contract as they both signed a contract that took up one year of UFA. But I think you could be right about the length. It puts Tkachuk in a prime position to cash in on one more huge contract at 29. Favourable position by itself.
But with CBA MOU there's an artificial lower cap until the player debt through escrow is paid off.
Quote:
2020/21:
• Upper Limit = $81.5 Million
• Midpoint = $70.9 Million
• Lower Limit = $60.2 Million
Thereafter (subject to the provisions above regarding the
Extension Year):
• Upper Limit will remain at $81.5 Million until Preliminary
HRR for the just completed League Year surpasses $3.3
Billion.
• For any League Year where Preliminary HRR is between
$3.3 Billion and $4.8 Billion, the Upper Limit for the
following League Year shall be between $81.5 Million and
$82.5 Million on a pro rata basis (e.g., if Preliminary HRR
is $4.05 Billion, the Upper Limit will be $82 Million).
• Once Preliminary HRR for the immediately preceding
League Year surpasses $4.8 Billion, the Upper Limit will
increase by $1 Million per League Year until the Escrow
Balance is paid off.
• The parties can agree to increase the Upper Limit in
excess of $1 Million in order to allow for a smoother
transition into the ‘Lag’ formula.
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Bettman is reporting 5.2B, which is why the cap is 82.5M next year already (over 4.8B). The odds of the cap only going up 1M each year is small I think at this point, but it's still a lower cap then it should be until the escrow balance is paid off and that's probably a couple years still from now. After that the artifical cap is lifted and a true cap ceiling based on 50/50 revenue kicks in; could be a pretty big jump. Players in that UFA zone when that escrow is paid off and dumb GMs have a bunch of extra cap to spend will be making big bucks. Let's say 4 years for escrow repayment? Players signing 6-8 year contracts? I'm guessing a lot of buyouts in 2030 lol.