How NHL players are paid now: The shift from Experience to Potential

 

The whole purpose of playing in the NHL is to hopefully win a Stanley Cup, Legends like Jarome Iginla and Joe Thornton spent their last years trying to chase it, Hoping from cup contender to cup contender for that small chance of holding lord Stanley. 

Most recently terms like "That player needs to buy in' and "He will take a hometown discount" tend to circulate, especially around a player's contract year. 

Star players continually take large contracts to stay with the team. Most of the time these players have very little to show for it in ways of post-season success. This begs the question are they in it for the team and winning or are they just in it for themselves? 

Interestingly, years ago players only got big paydays when they had a resume to show for it. A Stanley Cup or two, great leadership ability, and maybe some hard-nosed grit. Most of the time they would surprisingly be well past their prime, and well into their mid-late thirties. That's exactly what the teams wanted though, Experience above all else. Sometime in the 2000s a shift happened and younger players started demanding and getting large contracts. This was usually right after their ELC (Entry Level Contract) and well before they hit their prime. We are talking about twenty-four and twenty-five-year-olds negotiating for top-dollar paydays.

1. Nathan MacKinnon, C, Avalanche     

• AAV: $12.6 million

2. Connor McDavid, C, Oilers

• AAV: $12.5 million

3. Artemi Panarin, LW, Rangers

• AAV: $11.642 million

4. Auston Matthews, C, Maple Leafs

• AAV: $11.64 million

5. David Pastrnak, RW, Bruins

• AAV: $11.25 million

6. Mitch Marner, RW, Maple Leafs

• AAV: $10.903 million

Out of all six of those forwards listed above only one has won a Stanley Cup and all but Artemi Panarin are under the age of thirty. Each one of them is highly skilled and had tremendous potential when they signed their contracts. If you compare this to a player like Marc Messier who at the age of thirty-six inked a five-year, $30 million deal with the Vancouver Canucks, Keep in mind by this time Messier had already six Stanley Cups under his belt and a plethora of leadership skills. While this signing did not work out for either Vancouver or the messiah, it does go to show how the signing and negotiating factors are vastly different now. We are in the age of paying players based on Potential and what they might win rather than Experience and what they have won.

This article wasn't meant to determine which ideology is better or worse. It's just a very interesting topic I wanted to discuss.