Salary cap and top contracts (year over year)

[DeluxeMoustache]

^ sorry, that table looks okay on a computer but not so great on a phone.

The poster in the Marner thread correctly noted that hockey is a weak link game. I think there are very few players that individually carry the load, plus make enough other players on their team better, that they can put a team over the top.

How many of these rich contracts worked out for the teams that signed them?

We know Ovechkin is a first ballot hall of famer and arguably the greatest goal scorer ever, and Crosby is a generational talent and best all around player in the game. Those are the kind of players for whom you back up the truck.

Toews and Kane? Thanks for the 3 cups but it’s more difficult to round out the roster, now Kane is still a top player but they are not really a contender
Kopitar and Doughty? LA is not a contender.
Perry and Getzlaf? Anaheim paid them when it was too late
Parise and Suter? Minnesota are just so mediocre
Price / Lundqvist? I wouldn’t pay franchise center prices for any goalie not named Hasek

So good luck to Toronto with their 50% of cap going to 4 forwards.

I think it is sort of interesting how teams and GMs that are truly desperate have broken the market

NYR is in a shambles now and desperately needs a star, and paid a ton for Panarin. At least he was a UFA

Edmonton is obviously the worst, missing the playoffs 12 years out of 13, after years of handing out 6x6s willy nilly , and doubled down on McJesus. At the time of that contract, the highest under the new CBA were Toews and Kane (who had 3 cups) and they had the data of a couple of years in to those contracts without further team success

Toronto has had years of futility, and are apparently giddy with excitement about having a few above average players. 50% of the cap on 4 players is just dumb.

Minnesota tried making a splash by luring the two guys with (at the time) massive contracts. They wanted to define the face of the franchise but they are just pretty good players on a still faceless franchise

I am sure that Tre knows this. That’s why he has such a deep team with several outstanding contracts. Hopefully Tkachuk wants to win.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

2013 - top 10 contracts at the time

Weber 7.857
Parise 7.538
Suter 7.538

I think there's still some residual impacts from these still. The idea that these are 7.5M contracts, although correct with respect to salary cap, is pretty laughable position to take for salary when Parise, who is already 35, will have made 80M over the last 8 years for a 10M AAV.

Just because these contracts have some 1M years added until they are 55 years old doesn't change the fact to new UFA's that Weber, Suter and Parise were all getting 10M a year in actual cold hard cash. So that's how you end up with Tavares, a better player than Parise when the cap is much higher, making 11M (and allegedly offered 13M by the Sharks).

So there's two competing issues happening right now, first is the fact that the top players (not just Crosby and Ovechkin, but the Suters and Parises) have been making 10M a year for a decade now and new top tier UFAs still wanting to make that, or more. And then the RFAs wanting their fair share of the pie when they see 'comparable' players making huge amount simply due to the notion they signed as UFAs.