Player agent lays into Gary Bettman and the current salary cap
We've seen it since it was introduced but most notably with Chicago, Tampa and now Colorado. Chicago traded half of their team after their cup run in 2010 and had to watch more players leave because of the cap in 2013 and 2015.
Tampa has had to do it the last two years in losing their entire third line and trading away Tyler Johnson and is now looking to move Ryan McDonagh to relieve cap pressure. This year, Colorado is likely to lose a couple of very important pieces because of - you guessed it - the flat cap.
The players never wanted the hard salary cap, but bit the bullet and accepted it to get back to playing hockey. Now, thanks to the pandemic and the players having to pay back $1B through escrow, (yes ONE BILLION) before a significant rise in the cap occurs, we are witnessing an essentially flat cap. What's worse is that it's expected to continue on like this for awhile longer before the cap finally does jump up significantly in a few years.
Player agent Allen Walsh, known for speaking his mind and speaking out about issues in the league, has now laid into Gary Bettman over the current salary cap.
Walsh calls out Bettman saying that players are drafted into an "entry level system" and then goes on to say "Glory to Gary when players win Stanley Cups, teams desperately want to re-sign them, but are forced to trade them because they're capped out. Maybe the player will take millions less than his market value in the prime of his career to keep the team together"
Walsh has a point here, especially if you consider the fact that the game is growing at a high rate thanks to the players, specifically the younger players like Cale Makar, Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid. The younger players are the ones driving the growth. Trevor Zegras had a pair of videos go viral all over the world. Next season Zegras will have a decision to make, cash in on a lucrative contract or, as Walsh says, take a little less to help the Ducks in the long-term.
The salary cap was introduced in 2004 and all but a couple of players from that era have retired, but the younger generations have felt the effects and will continue to feel them as long as Bettman is in charge. Now, players see more money they earn put into escrow meaning they take home even less after taxes.
The salary cap was fine when it was implemented, but the league has now outgrown it. It's time for a change. Even just the introduction of a luxury tax alone could make a world of difference. A huge part of Bettman's job is to grow the game. Well, Gary.. you're not exactly growing the game if you're forcing winning teams to endure a large amount of turnover immediately after winning a championship.
