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Are mid tier NHL veterans going to lose out?


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The NHLPA will soon realize that this rash of excess contract spending cannot go on forever. There is only so much cap space to go around. Many of the signings I see this summer are over-priced.

It's basically a free for all for the remaining cap space after all the buyouts. You can bet your bottom dollar in 2-3 years, unless the cap goes up drastically, players like David Clarkson will not be getting 5.25 million per over 7 years.

Cap space will be exclusively reserved for signing top 6 forwards and top 4 D-men. Teams will be forced to round out their rosters by gambling on young talent and veterans willing to take a pay cut. Strong 3rd line players that could enjoy 3-5 million right now will find no teams willing to pay them at those prices.

I suppose the big winners will be those teams that bide their time and wait for the others to blow their loads. Once cap space is a vital commodity, previously expensive veterans will be available at a discount.

Things will obviously even out in the long run... but I see a rough road ahead. I think some of the NHL veterans are going to be left out in the cold as teams load up on big names and gamble on young players to perform at a huge discount.

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Honestly, I would be ok if the cap didn't go up in the next few years. Teams that have been jumping on the crazy, overpriced signings of UFAs (and even re-signings of their own players) might find themselves in a tight spot and have to figure out that it isn't worthwhile.

The NHLPA already knows how this will affect all the demographics in their membership, and they fought for a number of things in the CBA that should help protect them, but they did very little if anything at all to convince their own members (and their agents) that pushing for contracts that are clearly above the norm is detrimental. In a way, although it punishes some of their own members, it's a bit of a revenge on the owners for what they've been pushing for. Too bad everyone loses, including the fans.

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I hope the cap stays the same. So the best GM is the guy who can make a good team under the cap and it punishes teams especially offer sheet wise (the oilers soon) and you can just offer sheet young stars and they have no space to match

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Maybe what you said will be true over the next two years while the cap stays down, but after that, the cap is projected to go up. The cap will get gigantic again and we'll see the same old things till the new CBA arrives.

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