The amount of high-profile restricted free agents in the National Hockey League with training camps on the horizon has never been higher.
The salary cap in the NHL has been increasing incrementally over the years, but the players’ personal contracts have been increasing in a domino effect.
This off-season in the NHL, there are currently 12 high profile restricted free agents, aged 21-23.The most notable names Canadians like you and I may know include Winnipeg Jets winger Patrick Laine, Calgary Flames winger Matthew Tkachuk and Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitchell Marner.
The discussion to be had amongst people in the business world of hockey and the young players that have held out to receive a larger paycheque the past few seasons is a discussion about whether these young players have put the work in, whether they have paid their dues before receiving the big pay-day.
Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella is not a fan of young players missing camp, as he believes it makes it harder for players to catch-up.
“I’d be terribly disappointed. I’m not involved in the business part of it. But for a young man to miss one minute of camp, it disgusts me,” Tortorella said earlier last week in an article from Matt Teague of theScore.com on Sept. 3.
I could not disagree more with this statement.
These young players entering the league within the last five-to-10 years are ones selling the tickets and jerseys.
Not the coaches, not the team itself – the players. These players are the ones pushing the pace in terms of revenue for the owner and deserve to be compensated as such.
According to an article on bardown.com, Auston Matthews (drafted to the Toronto Maple Leafs first overall in 2016) and Connor McDavid (drafted first overall to the Edmonton Oilers first overall in 2015) are amongst the top 10 in jersey sales this past season, despite only being 22 and 23-years-old, respectively.
I for one only expect this trend to rise. These young players will continue to be the driving factor behind team-related revenue and deserve to be compensated as such.