Faceoff Factor

FF Birthday Series -- Weekly Question 2

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Feb 11, 11:43 AM | Hype this story!

As part of Faceoff Factor’s one year birthday celebration, we have invited members of the media and blogosphere to answer a weekly question about the Pittsburgh Penguins and/or the NHL.

This week, the panel of writers includes Angie Carducci and Michael Menser Dell, as well as Faceoff Factor’s Ashley Gallant.

Carducci has been on the Penguins beat since her college days in the early 1990s, starting with Center Ice/Hockey Player Monthly, and currently with Inside Hockey. She can also be heard on Montreal’s The Team 990 AM radio show, NHL Tonight, on Saturday nights.

Menser Dell writes for LCS Hockey, a humorous site dedicated primarily to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but covering the entire NHL.

Gallant spends her time writing NHL weekly roundups for FF and writing various news and opinions at her blog, The Ultimate Hat Trick.

And now on to the question…

This season seems to be one of the most competitive seasons in recent history with few teams completely out of the playoff race. Are we finally starting to see the tremendous positive side of having a salary cap or is there something else behind this? Explain.

Angie Carducci, Inside Hockey
With just eight weeks remaining in the regular season, few teams are out of the playoff race entirely, and there’s little doubt that’s just what the NHL was hoping for when the salary cap was instated.

“I think there is [a connection],” said Penguins Assistant GM Chuck
Fletcher. “You’ve seen a lot of teams the last couple summers let good players go because they’re not able to fit everybody in under the salary cap, so there’s no question it’s going to encourage the diffusion of talent throughout the league.”

Another contributing factor to the parity we’re starting to see across the league is the three-point game, where a team may earn two points in an overtime or shootout win while simultaneously conceding one to a division or conference rival. The Penguins have certainly been beneficiaries of that format; they’re 7-5 in overtime games this season, 6-3 in the shootout.

“There’s a lot of games that go to an overtime or shootout, and that extra point keeps the standings a little closer than you probably would’ve seen 10 years ago,” Fletcher said. “I think the league wanted a lot of teams coming down the stretch competing for a playoff spot, and it’s great. It keeps the fans excited, it keeps the players involved, and it keeps the competition better.”

Of course, the fact that so many teams are still in the hunt for a playoff spot should factor significantly into what happens at this year’s February 26 trade deadline. The parity in the league means that fewer teams will be prepared to classify themselves as “sellers,” unloading high-priced talent or impending free agents to contenders in exchange for draft picks or prospects. Instead, most clubs will be searching for the right pieces of the puzzle to bolster their chances at a playoff run.

“Most teams still do [have a chance] statistically, and you want to send the right message to your players and your fans that you’re still competing right to the end,” said Fletcher. “I think you’ll see more trades as we get closer to the deadline, but it remains to be seen if there will be as many ‘rental’ types of trades. I have a feeling we might see more actual trades this year, where playoff teams are trading with each other, trading a player for a player to fill in different needs.”

Michael Menser Dell, LCS Hockey
A few things. First, the salary cap has already had an enormous impact. Teams can’t carry more than three or four stars, helping spread the talent more evenly throughout the league. Second, the shootout has only further congested the standings. There are a ton of three-point games being played each night, so even when teams win, they have trouble separating from the pack. And finally, I blame the rap music.

Ashley Gallant, Faceoff Factor
Parity – it can certainly be a beautiful thing. One look at the standings confirms that most teams in the NHL are within 7 points of making the playoffs, or within 7 points of not making the playoffs. It’s a lot more exciting when you don’t know how the standings will look come April, and it makes each game that much more important.

I think that the salary cap does play a huge role in creating parity in the League. The way things are now, there’s a maximum and a minimum that teams must spend on players salaries. The gap between the floor and the ceiling is $16 million. Before the salary cap, the gap between the highest payroll and the lowest payroll in the NHL could’ve been tens of millions of dollars if franchises with extra money wanted to spend.

With each team spending about the same amount of cash, the talent should be spread around the League – at least in theory. If the top talent is spread around the teams, then it should not be a surprise that most teams are lumped together and fighting for a playoff spot. There are other factors that play into how a team performs (such as chemistry and injuries) but it’s not hard to see that a salary cap should lead to parity, and I believe that’s what is happening.

As teams learn how to build a team in a cap era, I believe that we will see even more parity in the League, if that is even possible. What concerns me, however, is the current trend towards big contracts. I think that teams with several players under contract for umpteen number of years, like the Flyers, will one day regret their decisions – but that’s a discussion for another day.