Quote:
Originally Posted by jayswin
This is exactly the Flames luck. Exactly what would happen when we suddenly have valuable assets to sell off.
"Wow, those are some great players you guys have available, most years you'd be in for a haul. This off season those star players are going for *checks notes*....nothing. They're basically free".
|
It's not "luck".
Back in the day Cowperson put out a great piece on some of the generations in the NHL. Average age dropped in the 80's when scoring was highest. If you were an over 30 player you were out of the league. Clutch and grab took over and the league got older.
We're back to a faster open game at the moment and we have a cap. Long term deals to anyone over 29 is a bad idea. We should be taking the view that at 33yrs old 98% of the league will be retired.
Add in the new complexity of the cap in this era. Teams haven't set budgets unless forced by economics of their region, everyone has spent to the cap...so liquidity has been undervalued. Covid and a flat cap jammed everyone even harder. Teams are waking up to the fact that this league is won by goals for and against efficiency per dollar now.
Giving term to lower the AAV isn't as attractive as it once was. Players are going for free now. The next step is a move towards limiting term. We could see a day where no one is offering 7-8yr deals to 27yr olds.