The hard cap succeeds in the other obvious goal of making the best teams worse every year. The entire point to the hard cap is that good teams can't keep all their players long term, no matter if they drafted them or not. This creates downward pressure on the best teams and makes staying competitive difficult unless you're willing to mortgage the future for good-value contracts (TBL). Two of my favorite things about the NHL are the draft and the cap, so I'm surprised you argue against both of them so vociferously. I like the rolling cycle of rise-and-fall that the NHL has with good teams. Some remain better for longer than others, but teams like TBL/COL having to shed players each year after their cup runs, only to have to re-load each year, is a good thing. It would be really annoying if the best teams just kept getting better, most GM's are too incompetent to be competitive without punishing success.
The hard cap succeeds in the other obvious goal of making the best teams worse every year. The entire point to the hard cap is that good teams can't keep all their players long term, no matter if they drafted them or not. This creates downward pressure on the best teams and makes staying competitive difficult unless you're willing to mortgage the future for good-value contracts (TBL). Two of my favorite things about the NHL are the draft and the cap, so I'm surprised you argue against both of them so vociferously. I like the rolling cycle of rise-and-fall that the NHL has with good teams. Some remain better for longer than others, but teams like TBL/COL having to shed players each year after their cup runs, only to have to re-load each year, is a good thing. It would be really annoying if the best teams just kept getting better, most GM's are too incompetent to be competitive without punishing success.
I just bought the sweetest Byram jersey card. Also, great piece.
Honestly one of the best pieces I've seen on a cap replacement idea. Great job man!