On one hand the 8 year deals benefit small market teams like the Flames when it comes to keeping home grown talent but on the other hand even the best GM's can't project the future and there's an inherent risk with every single long term contract handed out so there's some luck involved. IMO the recent trend of handing 8 year deals to RFA's is the right way to go about it as a lot of that term covers prime or very good years. It's the late 20's UFA long term contracts that are the ones that are handcuffing teams but that can be avoided by drafting and developing well.
IMO by far the biggest issue right now with the NHL is the whole LTIR thing and how teams are using injuries to circumvent the salary cap. It's not just a Lightning or Knights thing as a few Canadian teams have been doing this for years. The Oilers for example haven't even been hiding the fact that they have been doing this going back to Mike Smith and now Kane. Leafs have actually been a pioneer at circumventing the cap for a while. The league needs to get the cheating out of the game.
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