The NHL's cap system shown to be fundamentally flawed as a staggering number of teams forced to rely on LTIR relief
Current NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has been around major league sports for several decades, dating back to 1981, before helping to establish a soft salary cap in the NBA in 1983. When he became NHL Commissioner back in December of 1992, one of the things he hoped to accomplish was to establish a salary cap in the NHL as well, which he finally did in 2005. Since its implementation in 2005-06, the salary has jumped from just $39M to more than double at $82.5M this season. Over the next 3 seasons, the cap is projected to grow by $9.5M, settling at $92M in 2025-26. Still, that doesn't solve any of the NHL's current problems, nor will it solve them by the time the cap makes that significant jump in 3 years time.
Currently, the NHL has 17/32 teams currently utilizing LTIR cap relief just to remain compliant. Looking a little deeper, 25/32 teams are expected to be within $1.7M of the ceiling and, as scout and analyst Jeff Veillette points out, 4 of the 7 remaining teams are actively tanking for a shot at Connor Bedard this summer. The system is broken and hardly anyone is talking about just how broken it is.
The salary cap this season is just under 4% higher than it was back in 2018-19. Yes, COVID-19 came in like a whirlwind and halted much of the progress in its tracks and yes there were significant losses in revenue due to many games being played in empty buildings, but the players have been paying back these losses via escrow. The NHL reportedly had the opportunity to jump up by a few million dollars this coming summer, but instead opted to only incrementally increase the cap by $1M, up to $83.5M for next season. This will leave several teams who were counting on some extra relief relying, once again, on LTIR to remain compliant.
The NHL has reported record revenues over the past year or two and, thanks to new TV deals and sports betting deals, the NHL is in much better shape financially than it has ever been. The fact of the matter is that the NHL is more hellbent on creating forced parity than in rewarding the teams who are already moving the needle. Bettman, Daly and others are doing everything in their power to allow teams in struggling markets to thrive instead of allowing the teams at the top of the mountain to really excel the way they deserve to. The fact of the matter is that we may be long overdue for a change in the league's front office. Bettman may have and probably has overstayed his welcome. His continued presence is standing in the way of true progress.
In Toronto's case, when Dubas had signed the core 4 to their sizeable deals, the salary cap was projected to continue on the route of a steep incline. Unfortunately, the pandemic had other plans and with the cap remaining flat, it forced Dubas to alter his plans on the fly and structure the overall finances of the team with only the short term in mind, aside from the team's core players. He's done a magnificent job of this, as the team only has a handful of contracts signed past next season. If he does remain in Toronto past this season, t's likely that we'll see Dubas continue to tinker around the edges and stay the course of signing only short-term deals (other than the team's highly skilled players, who may all earn long-term extensions) until we begin to see the cap rise again.
The fact of the matter is that if the league wanted to, it could increase the cap to around $100M or so over the next few years and there would still be plenty of money to go around. As it stands right now, the NHL is behind all of the other major sports leagues and it's the star players - the ones who are pushing ticket sales - who are getting the shaft. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see another work stoppage or a lockout when it comes time to negotiate the next CBA.
| POLL | ||
11 JANVIER | 216 ANSWERS The NHL's cap system shown to be fundamentally flawed as a staggering number of teams forced to rely on LTIR relief Is it time for Gary Bettman to go? | ||
| Yes | 140 | 64.8 % |
| No | 5 | 2.3 % |
| The time for him to go is long overdue | 71 | 32.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
