Yeah I looked, but couldn't find any stats. Maybe CapGeek?

I think if you can demonstrate a non-standard dist. among NHL salaries you have an argument for salaries being "too high" or "too low". Otherwise, it's just opinion.

Which is fine...I'm not saying giving an opinion is bad, but it is what it is - arbitrary.

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Start: 2C, 2RW, 2LW, 4D, 2G

You know how on LOST there was that theory that everyone really died in the plane crash and that the show was just someone's made up universe in their comatose mind?

What if this whole Lockout scenario is really just an alternate "worst case scenario" made up by Crosby's crippled concussion-riddled mind?

That's a scenario where I'd say a reality check is in order.

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That would explain the long delays of nothing...

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And the dull quotes.

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Totally agree with you.

You've opened up a can of worms here that I have to intentionally not research at the moment, or I will get NOTHING done at work today.

Exactly. Most of the players outside of the NHL couldn't even come close to being competitive in the NHL. In reality those "middle tier" players are among the best players in the world. Sure they don't wow and amaze like Crosby, Malkin, Lundqvist, etc but they are still very skilled players who help lead teams to championships. Do you think the Kings would have won the cup without guys like Mitchell, Stoll, Williams and Scuderi? Probably not. The Blackhawks lost all of their "middle tier" players after their cup win and they struggled to make the playoffs the next 2 years. Meanwhile we see teams made up entirely of "middle tier" players such as the Blues, Preds and Coyotes make the playoffs every year. The fact is teams that are deep with "middle tier" players such as the Flyers and Bruins will continue to be consistently dominant while teams that are top heavy in talent like the Pens will fluctuate between seasons.

Also Kulemin is a very poor example of an overpaid player. He only gets $2.8M (cap hit). For someone who can score like he has in the past that's a very good deal. I think Leino, Carle and Wideman are better examples. Leino being the worst of them. But the reason they got paid the way they did is because of the scarcity of talent available in free agency as well the fact that teams just needed to improve their team whatever the cost. Just a little measure to see where how Kulemin's salary compares to Malkin's in terms of production last year. I took Kulemin's production from last year (28 pts) and divided it by Malkin's production from last year (since he had the most points scored) (109 pts) to get .257 Kpts/Mpts. I then multiplied that number by Malkin's cap hit ($8.7M) and got $2.2M for the amount that Kulemin should have been paid based on Malkin's salary and point production. That's pretty close to what Kulemin got in his deal but we know the Leafs paid a little more because Kulemin scored twice as many points the year before and its reasonable to assume that he will score more than 28 pts in future seasons.

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Start: 2C 2LW 2RW 4D 2U 2G 7B
Cats: G A +- PIM SOG PPG PPA SHP GWG FW HIT W GAA SV SV% SO
Svalbard Armored Bears:
C: Getz, M Richards(LW), Turdis, Little
LW: Kovy(RW), Moulson, Kunitz, _
RW: Eriksson(LW), Clarkson, _, _
D: Pietrangelo, JJ, Streit, Spurgeon, Brodie, Nikitin
G: Lundqvist, Holtby, Harding
JV: Tarasenko, Bishop, Eakin, Killorn, Grigorgenko, Grimaldi, Collberg, Faksa, Lindholm, Irving

What letangerang said right here:

contains a hint of the main reason why I think a cap on contract length will not affect the middle class as much as people are saying.

GMs know that it takes a well balanced roster to consistently win, and spending too much on just a couple players could be devastating to their depth unless those players are a Crosby or Malkin who can make up that difference.

So while the Crosbys and Stamkos will definitely have a higher cap; I have a hard time seeing Parise and Suter getting deals that would be much higher cap hits than the ones they just signed because they are just not worth it to take up that much more cap allocation in order for a team to fill out a more balanced roster. I like to think that most GMs see this, but as we all know there are a few nuts out there that will do anything even if it hurts their teams ability to win.

On top of that, if we go with that Parise's and Suter's contracts wouldn't have a higher cap hit, then it would be a positive for the rest of the players in the league because those front loaded deals wouldn't screw up the escrow stuff for them.

That's just how I see it. The players that are important to winning will always get paid the majority of time, and there will always be some that are "overpaid or underpaid" in our eyes.

Sure, they help contribute to long playoff runs, but even so... no one pays to see those guys.
The superstars are the reason tickets get sold even when the team is losing.
Another reason why the lion's share of a team's salary should go to the superstars.

I mean, seriously, if your best argument is that 3rd and 4th liners demand good money because championships can't be won without them... then what should 3rd and 4th liners from losing teams get paid? League minimum?!
Ok then.

Sidenote: Chicago also struggled to make the playoffs because their goaltending fell apart. But again, it doesn't matter. Fans pay to see Pat Kane, not Adam Burish. And they continued to pay to see Pat Kane even after Chicago fell from grace.

By the way, for anyone sick of me being too pro-owner you should check out Larry Brooks - throughout this whole process, I don't think he has made a negative remark about the players once. Not once. He despises the owners, and Bettman in particular.

Isn't he supposed to at least TRY to maintain objectivity as a journalist? I mean, I'm biased, but reporting to the public is not my job.

I think the constant owner bashing by Brooks is bordering on unethical.

I pay to go see my team play. I don't go to see a specific player.

Aside from that, it's interesting to see someone take the anti-perspective on everything, like eyemissgilmour.

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C: Kopitar Backstrom Stepan Cammalleri Little Bolland Laich Johnson
LW: Parise Lupul Erat McDonald Martin Silfverberg Nyquist Schwartz Morin Nieto Conacher
RW: PKane Doan Pominville Nash Clowe Lupul Rinaldo Stafford Rattie Stone Chiasson Ritchie
D: Green Suter Seabrook Dillon Beauchemin Schenn Letang Schultz Hamilton McNabb Rielly Harrison
G: Bryzgalov Pavelec Holtby Neuvirth Nihlstorp Lack CalPickard Andersen Stalock Sateri Eriksson
IR: Halak