Also Malkin signed his current contract in 2013, one year removed from his second Art Ross and 50 goal season where he won the Hart and Lindsay. Shortly after leading the Penguins in post-season points, again, just as he had done during his Conn Smythe Stanley Cup season a couple years earlier. He still "only" made 9.5M.
Ovechkin would be hard-pressed to be asking for much more, especially if he was negotiating in that 2014 range where the Capitals weren't even making the playoffs. Not that it mattered much since Ovechkin was all but invisible the year before when they did make it (1 goal, 1 assist in 7 games).
So any higher cap that Ovechkin would have had would be negated by the lower cap that Backstrom had.
Plus, if Ovechkin had signed an 8 year contract (5 years RFA) instead of 13 years, his cap-hit during those 8 years would have been much lower and maybe they get over the hump that much earlier when they can bring in a better player or two.
|