The Biggest Hurdle has been cleared, so sayeth the Globe and Mail.
That’s right folks – a cap system is now in place on the foundation of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement… The devil now moves to the details – free agency, arbitration, and a plethora of other issues (I wonder if they’ll get the face-shield issue ironed out? It’s long been forgotten because of the war over the cap)….
They say the CBA is no where near completion just because they have this issue solved… But it’s hard to believe that so much knowing the widest valley between the NHL and the PA has been bridged.
There’s no saying how receptive the players — the actual PA members – will be to this, but if they don’t wnat to further look like spoiled and greedy, they should think of the fall out if they do not give their blessing to the system…
I’m looking at the details and if this is factual – the PA is really getting shelled in the cap constraints. From TSN.ca:
According to the Globe’s league and player sources, a team-by-team salary floor and cap will based on a percentage of each NHL team’s revenue. The paper adds that in the first year – based on revenue projections by both sides – the salary cap will range from $34 million to $36 million US, with the floor from $22 million to $24 million US.The Globe also reports that the formula calls for a dollar-for-dollar luxury tax to kick in at the halfway mark between the floor and the cap. If the floor of the lowest team is $22 million US and the cap on the highest team is $36 million US, then the ‘tax level’ will be $29 million US.
The formula would allow wealthier teams to spend a bit more money, but would also bridge the large gaps in spending between higher payroll teams and lower payroll teams.
I have never been an NHLPA apologist through the labor war – there has never been an ounce of remorse for the PA in me when they’ve outright rejected offers from ownership… I’ve usually wholely agreed with the likes of John Romano and realist fans like my colleague Keith who talked about how the NHLPA was going to get a worse and worse deal as they continued to drag their feet… This Cap agreement is the proof of that if it’s real. I almost feel a tinge of sorrow for what the NHLPA gave up – and what the players, by turning a blind eye, chose to give up as well.
