NHL allows San Jose Sharks to circumvent the salary cap with today's decision
The San Jose Sharks and Evander Kane came to an agreement today on a settlement that would avoid an all or nothing decision from an arbitrator. It reportedly appeared as though Kane was set to win a decision against the franchise and the two parties were able to find a resolution to avoid the complications associated with the deal. The only problem with this decision the NHL admitted they had no care for the salary cap.
Expectation is #sjsharks will have a salary cap charge and Kane will be due money from SJ.
Both sides mitigate all or nothing arbitration risk.
If Kane had won the deal he'd have his contract reinstated while having his current contract voided and likely have been returned to the Sharks. This deal avoids that outcome. But here is where things get interesting for everyone.
According to Frank Seravelli the NHL is allowing the Sharks to make the payment retroactive to last season. Last season the Sharks finished the season with $5,000,000 in cap space, so by back dating this payment the Sharks avoid any future salary cap issues.
#sjsharks ended last season with just under $5 million in space, according to @CapFriendly.
After taking into account the deals signed with the Oilers, Kane was out approximately $4,900,000 which is the expected settlement value. It is clear the Sharks illegally terminated Kane's contract, so allowing them out of the situation without punishment proves the salary cap is just in place when the NHL feels it's important.
Hopefully this has more teams motivated to find ways to circumvent the cap so the league can finally remove it completely.
| POLL | ||
Should the Sharks see a cap punishment for this? | ||
| Yes, they terminated a legit deal | 24 | 61.5 % |
| No, this is the right call | 3 | 7.7 % |
| I'm just glad it's over | 12 | 30.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
