Lou Lamoriello got the much needed salary cap the Devils were looking for, by moving one player who will never play out of town, and putting another on long term injured reserve. If there was any GM with the cap space, and the balls, to show Lou the error of his ways, they could have “helped” Lou out of his predicament, by giving Brian Gionta an offer sheet. Sneaky? You bet. Worth it? You Bet-er (not a word, I know). Can you imagine if Lou had his hand forced on Gionta? What would he have done. He couldn’t sign him, unless he would have fit under 10% over the cap (follow that?), which I don’t believe he would have. By having all this time, Lou was able to pull the rabbit out of his hat, but who is willing to do it a second time? GMs gave Lou a pass, and the best thing might have been to stick him with what he had done. Remember, bonus money in contracts from 2001 paid out this year, at the end of the contracts, count against the cap right now, for the Avs. The salary cap giveth and the salary cap taketh away.
Let me be clear. I like the idea of the cap. The Avs, my team, were haves in the old system, while others were have-nots. I am fine with the weakened Avs of right now, since the cap makes sense in the overall. But the execution of the cap is another thing. What counts, what doesn’t, who gets waived due to money, how it all works, needs some sorting out. If not, we are going to be near enough to the old system, this time with who can manipulate the CBA, that it won’t matter. You will still have haves and have-nots, and not a fair system. You could say that a smart GM is the key then, or if a GM is smart enough, good for them. But if you want that, make the GM fit into the cap. That would be fun. Let’s see some leveling then.