Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
I find that the salary growth for the top players has not kept pace with that of mid and lower end guys. When Iginla was making 7 million off a 39 million dollar cap, there were a few others also earning a salary in that range. It's also a time where 3 million dollars in cap growth year over year was a pretty significant percentage. When they started the 05-06 season they also signed Roman Hamrlik to a 2 year deal for 3.5 million. That would be like signing him for 9.2 million today.
Maybe some guys like a McDavid or Kaprizov will start to push the limit for top players here. With the cap looking to get as high as it is, and the rumors that not every team is comfortable spending that much money maybe these types will end up in the larger markets who are more comfortable spending to the cap ceiling.
|
Yeah, this certainly seems the way with the percentage of cap players are making.
When the cap came in -- and I think Iginla was one of the first cap deals signed at near max rate -- the thinking was that teams would pay the top end of the market significantly and the middle tier would get a lot less and the bottom and entry guys would have to accept minimum. But teams are spreading their money out quite a bit more.
There will always be a player or two that'll set the market, but with the longer term deals and a constantly rising cap, there's room to pay the middle tier decently.