Except the value of the "middle tier" players is inflated because it isn't a free market. In a free market the top end players would earn far more then they currently do, leaving less money for the "middle tier".

Those players are earning their "value" within the structure of the NHL, but that doesn't mean that it is connected to what their real value would be outside of that structure.

What eyemissgilmour seems to be advocating is a change in the structure of the CBA to actually be MORE free market so that the top end players get what they are worth and the middle tier players actually get less.