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| Monday, July 2 Updated: July 3, 3:07 PM ET A cap for top players -- not teams -- may control growth By Al Morganti Special to ESPN.com |
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The recent rush in the NHL to sign free agents, and the ability of the Colorado Avalanche to keep their three top-level stars, presents this opportunity to suggest to the NHL and the NHL Players' Association a reasonable solution to the presumed economic war that will ensue when this present collective bargaining agreement ends in 2004.
This would not be a salary cap in the sense that an entire roster is capped. Rather, it would present a top-level dollar figure that no player could trump. And it wouldn't matter how many players a team signed at that top level. Take a look at a real life example: the Colorado Avalanche. By most standards, Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy and Rob Blake could have gone on the open market and earned more money from another team. But at prices between $8 million and $10 million per season, how much of a difference would it make? Sure, Sakic might have commanded $12 million from Philadelphia or the Rangers, but at what cost if he really wanted to play in Colorado? Top level players certainly feel some sort of "obligation" to assist the growth of salaries, but they do not owe anything to the Players' Association to get that done. In fact, a top-level salary cap might be comforting in that it would halt the absurd obligation to pack up an equipment bag to leave a winning, stable situation to go to another team for the extra dollars on the table. Look at it this way, if the top salary is pegged at $10 million, with an escalating clause based on the economic growth of the league, any team could sign 20 players for $10 million. That is not realistic (even for the Rangers, especially with general manager Glen Sather), but there are no limits to great players. The real upside of all this would be the end of salary leap-frogging of top players, which then leads to bloated figures throughout the league.
Handicapping free-agent signings First of all -- from either end of the spectrum -- give credit to both Mike Milbury of the New York Islanders and Darcy Regier of the Buffalo Sabres.
Granted, he created a lot of that stress. But it was still a case of trying to compete for others who made it clear he was not an accepted member of the club. In the playoffs, his coach gave him no help in terms of keeping Toronto's checkers away. Add the trade for Michael Peca from Buffalo to the mix, and the Isles are considerably better if their goalie can play. So, for better or worse, Milbury's future rightfully rests on the shoulders of his first pick last summer, Rick DiPietro.
The Sabres have solid goaltending in Martin Biron, and are two deep after that on their organizational chart with Mika Noronen and Ryan Miller, who as of now is still at Michigan State. It was time for a new start in goal -- and it took a GM with a long-term contract to make that bold statement. The Sabres also did as well as could be expected in the Peca situation, getting a couple of players (Donald Audette and Steve Heinze) at the trade deadline, and then moving Peca for players in the summer.
Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN. |
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