Should the NHL try a Soft Cap?

[RedFX 48]

I had this discussion with a buddy of mine at work today. We were talking about teams like Pittsburgh, Boston, and Tampa not being able to keep alot of their young talent because of the cap. This brought up the possibility of a soft cap. It's an interesting concept (It's been discussed before) and it seems like something that may possibly work.

For those of you who may not no what a soft cap is, it is one utilized by the NBA. There is a set cap number, and unlike the NHL, it traditionally remains constant. However, teams are allowed to go over the cap when resigning their own free agents and draft picks. There are restrictions on teams over the cap however. Trades are restricted (not prohibited) and there is a veeeerrrrrryyyy limited allowance for outside free agents. However, this concept spares teams from seeing a well-developed core be torn apart.

A system like this has its pros and cons. Like I stated earlier, it rewards teams who scout and draft well, and encourages teams to build a team within the organization (as opposed to throwing money at a bunch of free agents). Because they can go over the cap to resign players, a team wouldn't sacrifice one important player just because another emerged (Pittsburgh losing Ryan Malone in order to keep Malkin and Crosby). It also creates more stability for the players. At the start of the cap-era, most teams weren't offering more than 2-3 year deals. It made it hard for players to really settle down in one particular place and adapt to a system, not to mention the strain on the family because of this.

However, this system has also caused concerns. Because teams can offer whatever they want to their own free agents, we often see extremely high contract offers. This destroys alot of depth in free-agent markets, because players know they can get more by staying than they can on the open market. As a result, it's very rare to see many A-list players hit the open market. Also, teams over the cap are very limited in what they can do player-movement wise. You can't make an offer to a free-agent that would put you over the cap, and all trades have to be equal contract value. This situation makes it very difficult for teams to rebuild.

Interesting debate. I'm personally not hardcore for or against either one. Thoughts?

[joshy207 156]

It is an interesting idea. I think the NHL would only explore it if they determine the current hard cap system is not working well. I think if the NHL were to explore the soft cap option, they would look to limit how much each team can go over. Maybe 10%, 15%, or something like that.