The Salary Cap and the Three-Headed Monster in Tampa

The first season under the new system is nearly done, but the NHL salary cap remains a mystery to fans, media and probably most NHL general managers. Consider the fallout from the Brad Richards contract.

In case you missed it last week, the Tampa Bay Lightning declared Richards the second-best player in the NHL by handing him a five-year deal averaging $7.8 million annually. Only Jaromir Jagr makes more.

Nobody begrudges Richards a hefty raise. His 91 points this year tell only part of the story. Besides passing the puck as well as anyone, he's an all-purpose hockey player and probably the next captain of the Lightning, a 26-year-old with Yzerman-like potential.

The problem, of course, is the salary cap, likely to be around $46 million next season. Between Richards, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay will have over 40 percent of its payroll tied up in three forwards. Is that any way to run a hockey team?

The answer is, nobody knows yet. From most perspectives, the three-headed monster approach looks very high-risk. Tom Benjamin has a good summary of reasons why the Richards' deal might backfire on the Lightning. The talking heads on Hockey Night in Canada knocked the issue around last Saturday, trying to figure out what GM Jay Feaster is thinking. This week, reporters in Florida are still asking whether a top-heavy team can win.

Tampa needs a goaltender. So does Feaster lop off one of the heads (most likely St. Louis) by making a trade? Or does he keep the monster intact and fill out his roster with bargain-basement players, on the theory that luminaries like Richards and Lecavalier are rare and worth paying for, but most other athletes can be replaced without much of a downgrade?

Other teams will be watching with great interest, because when it comes to the salary cap, they're all still driving blind.

If it stays intact, Tampa's three-headed monster cannot afford to fail. Like so many sports barons, Lightning owner Bill Davidson is a hockey fan only when he's winning. Maybe the real reason Brad Richards got a fat new contract is that he was negotiating with a desperate general manager on a very short leash:

"It's been made very, very clear that we need to have a deep playoff run [next season]," Feaster said. "Mr. Davidson is still funding our losses if we're a championship team or one that goes deep into the playoffs. That's one thing. But if we're a team fighting to get into the playoffs as a No. 8 seed and we go out in the first round, Mr. Davidson is not interested in that."