Player Agent Calls out the NHL over their stance on a hard salary cap

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Tom Banks
January 9, 2024 (11:18)

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The NHL has several issues that are preventing them from growing at the rate of other sports leagues, and now, a player agent has taken a shot at one specific issue that he believes is doing just that.

Allan Walsh against the NHL's hard salary cap

The MLB, NFL and NBA all operate under a soft salary cap, allowing teams to go beyond the cap while having to pay major penalties for doing so, but in the NHL, the hard salary cap remains a strong issue.

After the massive deal handed down to William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the issue seems to have risen again, allowing famed player agent Allan Walsh to speak out.

Back in 2004, Bob Goodenow said a hard salary cap would dominate fan and media discussions, become detrimental to growing the game we love. He was right. Nowadays, the fan bases around the NHL are all wringing their hands over a players AAV. The debate becomes «he's a really good player, but is he worth $6M AAV? We only have so much cap space to go around.» This could have been avoided with a luxury tax. Instead, the system makes players the villains for taking up X% of a teams cap space. Horrible business model.

Should the NHL keep up with the times?

While the other three major sports leagues have their issues as well, this seems to be one of the biggest for the NHL, as players are often vilified by fans and their front offices for wanting to get the biggest deal possible.

At the end of the day, the NHL haven't seemed interested in moving away from the hard cap, and while their Department of Player Safety and marketing team still remain major issues, until they can work out a soft salary cap to allow teams flexibility and get players paid more without becoming villains, it will be tough for the league to grow.

As Read on Blade of Steel - Player agent blasts the NHL over the Salary Cap