Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Salary cap and top contracts (year over year)

DeluxeMoustache · 09-12-2019, 05:09 PM

We all know that everyone is watching the pack of RFAs. I know that everyone is talking about market value for top talent.

I thought it would be interesting to look at how we got here, and the impact of bad GMs like Chiarelli and Kyle Dumbass in breaking the RFA market.

Here is a table that shows, by year, salary cap, the average of the top 10 contracts in the NHL, and the change year over year. These generally paced close to one another until the last 2 seasons.

Year - Cap - Avg top 10 - YOY Cap - YOY Top 10
2013 - 64.3 / 8.28
2014 - 69 / 8.66 / +7.3% / +4.6%
2015 - 71.4 / 9.14 / +3.5% / +5.5%
2016 - 73 / 9.34 / +2.2% / +2.2%
2017 - 75 / 9.44 / +2.7% / +1.1 %
2018 - 79.5 / 10.4 / +6% / +10.5 %
2019 - 81.5 / 11.1 / +2.5% / +6.3%

2013 - top 10 contracts at the time
Ovechkin 9.538
Crosby 8.7
Malkin 8.7
Perry 8.625
Getzlaf 8.25
Staal 8.25
Weber 7.857
Nash 7.8
Parise 7.538
Suter 7.538

New contracts by year in top 10

2014 -
Malkin 9.5
Subban 9
Lundqvist 8.5
Giroux 8.275
Kessel 8

2015 -
Toews 10.5
Kane 10.5

2016 -
Kopitar 10
Stamkos 8.5

2017 -
Benn 9.5

2018 -
McDavid 12.5
Tavares 11
Price 10.5
Nylander 10.2 (because of pro rating)
Eichel 10

2019 -
Panarin 11.642
Matthews 11.634
Karlsson 11.5
Doughty 11

You can see that the growth in top salaries is outpacing the growth in the cap the last 2 years. I am sure that a lot of players are seeing these salaries and getting excited. But as the new RFA class all try to get slotted in there, that means less money for the middle and lower classes.

The end result of this is effectively the redistribution of wealth. HRR is fixed, and escrow will distribute so that the salaries end up being the agreed upon amount of HRR .

The crop of RFAs that are negotiating concurrently to maximize their own personal incomes are taking money away from all of their teammates.

It is funny because you hear Captain serious getting all hot and bothered about how escrow means contracts aren’t honoured. Yet the agents of top players are pushing for contracts that are clearly outpacing HRR and cap growth.

I wonder how much of this the players actually consider as they watch the RFA standoffs.

09-12-2019, 05:09 PM	#1
DeluxeMoustache Moustache Join Date: Mar 2010 Exp:	Salary cap and top contracts (year over year) We all know that everyone is watching the pack of RFAs. I know that everyone is talking about market value for top talent. I thought it would be interesting to look at how we got here, and the impact of bad GMs like Chiarelli and Kyle Dumbass in breaking the RFA market. Here is a table that shows, by year, salary cap, the average of the top 10 contracts in the NHL, and the change year over year. These generally paced close to one another until the last 2 seasons. Year - Cap - Avg top 10 - YOY Cap - YOY Top 10 2013 - 64.3 / 8.28 2014 - 69 / 8.66 / +7.3% / +4.6% 2015 - 71.4 / 9.14 / +3.5% / +5.5% 2016 - 73 / 9.34 / +2.2% / +2.2% 2017 - 75 / 9.44 / +2.7% / +1.1 % 2018 - 79.5 / 10.4 / +6% / +10.5 % 2019 - 81.5 / 11.1 / +2.5% / +6.3% 2013 - top 10 contracts at the time Ovechkin 9.538 Crosby 8.7 Malkin 8.7 Perry 8.625 Getzlaf 8.25 Staal 8.25 Weber 7.857 Nash 7.8 Parise 7.538 Suter 7.538 New contracts by year in top 10 2014 - Malkin 9.5 Subban 9 Lundqvist 8.5 Giroux 8.275 Kessel 8 2015 - Toews 10.5 Kane 10.5 2016 - Kopitar 10 Stamkos 8.5 2017 - Benn 9.5 2018 - McDavid 12.5 Tavares 11 Price 10.5 Nylander 10.2 (because of pro rating) Eichel 10 2019 - Panarin 11.642 Matthews 11.634 Karlsson 11.5 Doughty 11 You can see that the growth in top salaries is outpacing the growth in the cap the last 2 years. I am sure that a lot of players are seeing these salaries and getting excited. But as the new RFA class all try to get slotted in there, that means less money for the middle and lower classes. The end result of this is effectively the redistribution of wealth. HRR is fixed, and escrow will distribute so that the salaries end up being the agreed upon amount of HRR . The crop of RFAs that are negotiating concurrently to maximize their own personal incomes are taking money away from all of their teammates. It is funny because you hear Captain serious getting all hot and bothered about how escrow means contracts aren’t honoured. Yet the agents of top players are pushing for contracts that are clearly outpacing HRR and cap growth. I wonder how much of this the players actually consider as they watch the RFA standoffs.