Quote (Cratic @ Mar 25 2013 07:51pm)
You don't get it, do you? It doesn't matter what salaries were like before. He is signed for 5 more years with a $7M a year cap hit. This is going into a year where the cap is going down roughly $6M. You say this is the standard? Does this mean that the likes of Giroux, Malkin, Vanek, Lundqvist, etc are going to sign for $10M+ a year? This is an UGLY precedent. And you can't sign these players banking on the cap to continuously go up or else you end up like how the Flyers, Canucks, and Blackhawks are going into next season.
To put this in simple terms, after next year the Canes will have roughly 70% of their cap tied up in 9 players.
Not all GMs will make deals/signings banking on it. In Montreal almost everyone has taken discounts and Bergevin has even cleared cap space for the future. At the end of the day you can't let your first liners walk for nothing just because you think they're 500k-a mil overpaid. Malkin's going to get a blank cheque wherever he goes. Players were already signing for 10 mil a year. Parise is being paid 12 mil a year for the part of his contract he actually intends to play out. The only difference is it's not being hidden under a false guise. That's entirely on the GMs and players if they want to offer/take ridiculous contracts that hurt their teams. Perry/Getzlaf deals are the comparables for guys like Giroux, Vanek, etc.. Goalies won't be making 10 mil. Rinne deal is pretty much the max for the next few years, maybe Lundqvist gets 7.5, most teams aren't willing to spend that much on goaltending to hurt the rest of their lineup. Teams who have GMs who know basic math will be fine, those who don't will get fucked over. At least everyone has two compliance buyouts(except Habs/Rags, only one).
The Semin deal isn't what's killing Carolina, it's the fact that their entire top 6 is making near 6 mil each, not just their top line. Jordan Staal doesn't have the offensive instincts to be worth 6 mil for a decade. Jokinen is making three mil to play on their third line and be good in shootouts. Skinner is what really fucked them over by not taking a bridge contract. He's getting paid UFA money for no UFA years taken.