Quote:
Originally Posted by littlereddevil
It makes you wonder if Canadian GMs will start avoiding American-born players at all costs, whether via the draft, trades, or free agency.
Either way, the original intentions of the salary cap era being a way to level the playing field have clearly not panned out, as there are still more desirable markets that are driven by player perception (+/- their agents' opinions). The market is clearly tilted in favour of larger American markets.
I wonder who will be the next American player to leave a Canadian team for peanuts. Matthews?
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The salary cap absolutely levelled the playing field. It’s been a huge success in that regard. It has kept teams like Calgary viable.
But you can’t regulate out player preference. That has been around forever and will continue to be around forever. It can also work in a Canadian team’s favour.
I think what we’re seeing mostly is that guys are speaking up ahead of time and saying they want to test UFA, which gives their team an opportunity to get something for them. Every year there are dozens of guys that hit UFA and choose not to sign with the team they were on.