I know what your thinking, this Krundle guy is a complete idiot. Believe me, I have heard it before, but there is a method to my madness.
The NHL has been groundbreaking on many things. In 1918, thanks to Lester Patrick, the NHL had instituted a playoff system. Baseball and Football didn’t start using a playoff system until the 60’s. The NHL was also the first of the MLB, NBA, NFL to use uniform numbers for easy identification of the players.
I’m going to keep this simple, and let the NHL lawyers and the Player Union lawyers sort out the complicated details of the contract renegotiations and the players post-rollback salaries.
Right now the NHL unfortunately ranks fourth in the four major league sports in the United States. Ranking first by a large margin would be football and the NFL. What the NHL needs to look at is what makes football so popular.
Aside from the hitting and the great action of the sport, both of which hockey has, football has a great fan base and being from Pittsburgh, I can tell you that I would be hard pressed to find someone that couldn’t name at least 10 Steeler players. At the same time I would be hard pressed to find someone that could name 10 Pittsburgh Penguins, let alone who the Penguins just traded for.
What I have noticed is that as much as I follow football, I seriously cannot name 1 trade that the Steelers have made. I?know that they have gotten players from other teams at times, but it is very rare. What football mainly relies on is the abilities of teams to draft and train players to be part of the team.
In the NHL is that you can trade for anything and get anyone at anytime, anyplace. Players are traded like cattle and moved more than any other sport, and I truly believe that is why it ranks forth among major sports. Can you think of one intelligent person that says baseball is better to watch than Hockey? So for this I created a new salary cap system.
With my salary cap of 20 Million, players that are drafted by a particular team are not counted against the salary cap. For instance Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Shawn Matthias, all drafted by Detroit would not count against their salary cap. It is ridiculous that right now, teams that have drafted well are unable to keep their star players because of the cap.
The current Salary cap for teams is 56.7 million maximum team payroll and 40.7 million minumum team payroll.
Removing the salary cap from players that are drafted by teams, not only rewards teams that drafted well, but also will have the effect of having many more players play their career with the same team. This will create a more devoted fan base and in turn raise the popularity of the NHL and hockey in general. The longer a player plays with a team the more devoted of a fan base that player gets. Fans will not have to ask themselves: “Should I get this players jersey, he could get traded any minute now?”
This could be good for a player as well, as he will not have to up and move his family around all the time, and players will not have to accept less money just to stay and play with a good team that wants to keep all their players..
While the 20 million amount isn’t set in stone, I have some up with a few ideas to go with the basic principle of the concept:
- A one time rule to start the process: All players currently on a given roster will not be included in that teams cap.
- Once a player is traded, he will always go against the cap even if he returns to the team that drafted him.
- The 20 million can move up and down just like the current salary cap does.
- Almost all of the current CBA agreements can stay in effect.
Right now with the ridiculous amount of trades in the NHL, the NHL is expecting people to be devoted to a team name, and not the frequently traded players on a team.?? If the NHL wants to prosper, it needs to follow the pattern that the NFL has created and put faces to the team name.? Keeping more players on a team for their careers is a proven way to create a much larger fan base, and will create much more interest in the sport.
Related Article – click here> Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 – 2010 Salary Cap Numbers
I’m not “shooting down” subsequent discussion. If you don’t want the facts getting in the way of your “ideas” I’ll try to stay out of your hair! ;o)
Ms Foreczech,
I’m really glad to see that you got your caps lock fixed. sweet.
You’re right, as per the CBA, my example there was bad. I stand corrected.
But for real, you stopped by, first, to complain about the premise of the article…then, came by 3 more times to shoot down subsequent discussion that came from it.
You’re clearly knowledgeable about hockey…
but can you put reality on hold for a few minutes and enjoy yourself?…get creative, build on ideas…think outside the box…that kind of stuff?
You’re capable of bringing a lot more to the table than just shooting down ideas.
@ late harvest
You say that technically the largest salary you could pay a single player in a season would be about $55 million, if you had 2 players on your team, 27.5m, etc.
Nothing personal intended here but you might want to review the CBA. No player may be eligible to contract for or receive in excess of 20% of the Club’s upper limit in total annual compensation. Now Krundle is saying the cap would be $20 million which no player which is a member of the NHLPA would ever support. This is pretty silly especially when you think it out a bit. The players would start their own league. People tend to forget that we missed a year of hockey so that the owners could set a cap at $21.5 million (U.S.) at the lower limit and $39 million (U.S.) at the upper limit. They cried poor-mouth and some projected the cap would go down. That’s why I’m saying the entire idea is pretty silly.
It would be interesting to see how much the Penguins are paying out right now to drafted players as opposed to the free agents they have signed.
Performance based salaries would be interesting, but you would have to consider shirt sales and stuff, for instance you see mor Crosby and Malkin shirts at games than any others, if that wouldn’t be but into performance based salaries, then the players would have no incentive to do any additional promotion and community work.
@lateharvest
With the $20 million cap that I am proposing, Crosby & Malkin’s salary would not count against the cap because the Penguins drafted them. Staal, Fluery and the rest of the Penguin players that were drafted by the Penguins do not count against the $20 million cap.
Satans salary would count against my proposed cap, as would Kunitz, Guerin, Sykora, Dupuis, and the rest of the players that the Penguins did not draft.
Yeah…I was postulating the ideal situation…the one that you said would never ever ever and you repeated never ever actually happen.
I understand the global reality of such a major paycut…the exodus from the nhl that we’d see…we’d have the AHL, at best.
Think about what the Penguin’s roster would look like with a $20mil cap…salaries structured as they are.
We’d have Crosby, Malkin, and Satan.
With an incentive based contract structure, you could pay players just about anything, but it would be directly connected to their performance and the terms of their individual contract.
But for some reason i have to add again…this is idealism and romantic notions…and just mine at that.
lateharvest – you could pay 1 player 54 million and the other player 1 million. If the NHL lowers the salary cap, the NHL will lose the talent then the fans, look at the russian club paying jagr 9 million, the quality players will not stay here. Another option would be that the owners make a fortune and the players make nothing and the third option which will never ever ever and I repeat never ever actually happen, and that would be the players stay and ticket prices go down. As for the small market, it only makes sense to the point that the other teams need someone to play. I think we are considered a smaller market, and it seems like we are making it work, though I don’t know how the revenue sharing works.
Ms ForeCzech,
It’s tough to respond to your comments about my hypothetical idea…
We have a salary cap already…technically the largest salary you could pay a single player in a season would be about $55 million, if you had 2 players on your team, 27.5m, etc.
What i’m suggesting is making the cap lower…just like what was already suggested…except A LOT lower.
So you have to decide, at what number does communism begin?
My argument is, as DR Hook put it, To have teams in the NHL in a small market.
It’s idealistic and unrealistic…but pretty much all of this is.
also…the $88 million you cite; that went into someone’s pocket…that’s not going to go towards programs and building a new infrastructure…
@ Darius K
And therefore the reason why the player’s would form a union. There are always two-sides to these things and one side is that the owners have already proved given the opportunity many chose to screw the player.
If the argument is to have teams in the NHL in a small market it’s a good one. If it’s about the NHL as a business and the players as their own business the smaller markets have to be twice as smart to complete. Is that bad? Only for the smaller markets.
The thing about not having a cap on the players that you draft is that their prices can go up and up. That is OK for large market teams, but for small market teams, you still have a problem with affordability. That is what I am saying about the theory. Just because you drafted a player and groomed him, doesn’t mean he in indebted to the team and therefore will not ask for higher contracts.
@ lateharvest
IF IT WAS ALL ABOUT MONEY MAYBE THE NEUROSURGEON SHOULD HAVE BECOME A HOCKEY PLAYER. AS TO LIMITING CONTRACTS TO $100K I HOPE THAT ISN’T AS DEEP AS YOU’RE THINKING GETS. HOWEVER, THERE IS A RUMOUR THEY DO THAT WITH THE GOVERNMENT TEAMS IN CHINA. EVEN RUSSIA HAS COME OUT OF COMMUNISM! CZECH OUT THOSE KHL SALARIES.
GEEZ – THIS IS AMERICA AND (NOT TO PUT DOWN DOCTORS) BUT UNTIL THE NEXT TIME YOU HEAR OF A NEUOSURGEON ATTRACTING A CROWD OF AROUND 20,000 PAYING $50 PLUS FOR A TICKET, $8 A BEER, AND $12 TO PARK THEIR CAR TO SEE ONE OF HIS/HER OPERATIONS THERE SHOULD BE NO COMPLAINTS.
THE 103 SELLOUTS HAVE BROUGHT IN APPROX.- $88 MILLION JUST IN TICKET PRICES. NOW THIS IS HOW BUSINESSES ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK. NO STIMULUS PACKAGE REQUIRED.
the average salary of a neurosurgeon who has 20 years of experience is $353,188(payscale.com)
The reward of pro hockey should be 1. that you’re talented enough to be wanted. and 2. that you can actually get paid to play sports.
Teams cover travel expenses, food, lodging during the season…
Contracts should be for no more than 100k guaranteed. Incentives out the wazoo…and that should be between a player and his employing organization.
No more talk about teams moving, small market, etc.
That is the dumb part about it, the more popular the sport, the higher the ticket and beer prices.
Down with Hockey!!!!
@ MALORE
THAT TICKET PRICE CAP ———– WE’LL NEVER SEE THAT. BETWEEN THAT AND THE $8 DRAFTS I THINK IT’S EASY TO SEE THAT IT’S A BUSINESS.
ON A SIDE NOTE: FOR A GOOD LAUGH THEY CHARGED $9 FOR A SOUVENIR PLASTIC FLEETWOOD MAC CUPS THE OTHER NIGHT!
I agree that hockey players are paid way to much for what they do, but that is the same as in all sports. It does sound like this would allow the Penguins and other teams, like Tampa who has to sign Stamkos and whoever has to sign Tavaras, the ability to keep them, and also put supporting players around them. If you build a team from the ground up, you should be able to keep your players.
I disagree with malore, I think the NHL needs to go the route of non-guarenteed contracts.
WHY DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE ABOUT THE POPULARITY OF HOCKEY? i REMEMBER WHEN ONE OF THE FLORIDA TEAMS STARTED AND THE OWNERS THOUGHT THEY WOULD ATTRACT THOSE CANADIAN “SNOW BIRDS” UNTI THEY FOUND OUT THEY MOVED SOUTH TO GET AWAY FROM HOCKEY. THIS GAME ISN’T FOR EVERYBODY.
I DON’T CARE TOO MUCH FOR GOLF AND REALLY DON’T CONSIDER IT A SPORT BUT WHO CARES – ISN’T IT DIFFERENT STROKES FOR (WAIT THAT’S A PUN)———– I FEEL THE SAME ABOUT POOL AND BOWLING. IS NASCAR A SPORT? MAYBE IT IS TO SOME PEOPLE. NOT ME, HOWEVER. SO WHEN PEOPLE START TALKING ABOUT POPULARITY AND SEEM UPSET THAT HOCKEY’S 4TH AND FALLING——– DOESN’T PHASE ME A BIT. FIRST TIME POSTER HERE, I LIKE THE SITE AND THE HUMOR—– I HOPE THAT NASCAR REF DIDN’T OFFEND ANYONE!
Yeah sounds like a good idea, it really does but the player’s association surely won’t go for it WHY?? Because this day in age and athletes are included Governments,CEO’s are only worried about one thing MONEY people are greedy and want more, so are athletes, I love sid and geno but come on 8million dollars to play a game?
Darius, it looks like from the plan that the small market teams would be in the same situation they are now. This plan doesn’t call for getting rid of the cap. The Rangers for instance would only be able to have 20 million in free agents, they could pay the players that they have drafted as much as they want to ensure they stay with the team. If you don’t draft well, and you don’t have a good farm system to train the players is where you would lose. Teams that invest in the players that they draft would be the big winners.
This is very interesting fodder for discussion. It seems like it has some possibilities. Small market teams, however, would still be in danger of losing their big time talent. If there is no cap, then the players you drafted can have salaries that go up to the point where smaller market teams will not be able to afford them. As for Ron Malore’s comments on the salary cap going against capitalism and the principals of North America, the cap is something that protects to overall good of the game. One thing that we in Pittsburgh should appreciate is parody among the teams in a given league. (Pirates) I think the cap helps to protect the integrity of the league, especially in a league the relies heavily on ticket revenue to keep the league going.
malore, people are free, they do not have to play on a major sport franchise, with all sports there are other options, with hockey their are many leagues in many countries, all of which pay more than what an average person makes.
Back when the Canadiens did that, they had many obsurd rules in effect. According to the rules back then, the Canadiens had the right to all players within a 50 mile radius.
Krundle says that with the new salary cap, the CBA rules would stay in effect. If the NHL wants to build the sport up and get more national tv contracts this could be a start. Keep in mind that NASCAR is about to bypass the NHL if it hasn’t already because of their fans relationships with the drivers.
@ Jesselvis
There is another POV on this matter and that’s: “Let the chips fall where they may.” It might really make things more interesting. Sports really other than being SOUP NAZI’S have no right to be different than any other business and, make no mistake about it, sports is a business, a multi-billion dollar business.
The talent within each sport is not the private property of the team for longer than the contract to which ‘each’ is committed and anything to the contrary is actually very un-American. Even un-North American! It goes against the basic principles of capitalism, freedom of choice and opportunity.
The NFL has a very stupid player’s union which is more amazing that the player’s (most of them) have college educations. They have non-guaranteed contract’s.
The NHL has guaranteed contracts and purchases insurance to cover losses if a player gets hurt while under contract. IMO no team should have the right to HOLD players hostage (especially, not becuase what sweater you decided to buy) and that’s what happens with salary caps and no roster moves.
The Canadiens before expansion had players stashed in the minors who never got the opportunity to play basically because they were so overstocked. Is that fair?
Many Pittsburghers think that because we are a smaller market that there has to be special rules – for us.
I think most everyone knows the salary cap was installed because of NHL Owners and GM’s who couldn’t control their spending. Even under the salary cap teams like Philadelphia still sign players like Briere to absurd contracts. That’s their business.
Didn’t Lincoln free the slaves a long time ago? Locking into players just because of the luck of the draw or that Patrick had a four -leaf clover in his pocket sucks from a player POV.
Salary cap? Why should any sport have the right to tell the owner of a team what he or she is allowed to spend to improve the product or tell a player he has to play for the team he was drafted – for life.
Wow, that is not that bad of an idea! When you look at the fact that Crosby, Malkin, Fluery & Staal next year will be $27 million of the cap, it is almost pointless for the Penguins to draft players, because if they become good, we won’t be able to pay them anyway.
I also like the idea that most players will play their entire career in one place, you really don’t see that much in hockey.
Interesting concept. IMHO the only NHL CAP I’d like to see is a TICKET PRICE CAP!