The NHL’s New $20 Million Question

Every summer, NHL fans watch the same conversation unfold. A star player signs a massive contract, and immediately everyone starts asking the same question: “Is this too much?”

Sometimes the answer is obvious. Sometimes it isn’t. But maybe we are asking the wrong question.

The real issue might not be whether Cale Makar, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or another superstar is worth every dollar they earn. It’s hard to argue that they’re not worth an enormous amount of money. Elite players change games. They sell tickets. They create moments that fans remember forever.

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Hockey Is Still a Team Sport and Building Rosters Is Crucial

And that is where things get complicated. A team doesn’t win because it has one great player. It wins because it can build around that player. It needs depth scoring, reliable defence, goaltending, penalty killers, role players, and young players developing on affordable contracts.

The salary cap forces every team to make choices. If a handful of players take up a huge percentage of the available money, something has to give somewhere else. Maybe it’s the third line. Maybe it’s the defence. Maybe it’s the backup goalie. Maybe it’s the player who could have helped in the playoffs but couldn’t fit under the cap.

That doesn’t mean superstars should be paid less. It means the NHL has created a difficult balancing act.

If Connor McDavid Is the Best Player in the World, Why Not Pay Him Like He Is

Connor McDavid is arguably the best player in the world. Nobody questions that. But hockey is not basketball. One player cannot control every shift. The best player on the ice still needs teammates. That is the fascinating part of roster building today. General managers are not just collecting talent. They are managing a puzzle.

How much can you pay your stars? How much do you need to save for the players who make the stars better? How do you create a team where the final player on the roster still matters?

Maybe the Highest-Paid Player Isn’t the Key to Winning the Cup

Maybe what’s next in NHL roster building isn’t just piling up more star power. Everybody’s already trying to do that. The harder part is balancing the guys who make the highlight reels with the guys who actually win you games. Think about it — how often does the team with the highest-paid player actually hoist the Cup? In my initial research, the only time I found that to be the case was with Peter Forsberg. He was tied for the NHL’s highest-paid player at $10 million, and the Avalanche won the Cup in 2001.

Ironically, Colorado just made Cale Makar the NHL’s highest-paid player at $20.4 million. Will they find out that the Stanley Cup doesn’t go to whoever’s got the biggest paycheck? It goes to the team that squeezes the most out of every single guy on the roster, top to bottom. That’s probably the lesson a lot of teams are still learning the hard way.

The question isn’t whether your superstar is worth $20 million. The question is what that contract prevents you from putting around him.

Related: Cale Makar Cashes In: Avalanche Lock Up a Superstar, Inherit a Cap Crisis