If an upper spending limit were no object, how much money could Sidney Crosby possibly make in a true free market system?
In the summer of 2002, Bill Guerin signed a 5-year contract worth $40M. Guerin at the time was a 32-year old forward who had managed 41 goals with the Boston Bruins the previous year. Still, a $9M contract to a player on the wrong side of 30 is ludicrous now ten years later.
Bobby Holik, going into his 32-year old year, is coming off a 25-goal campaign in New Jersey. His stature as a star player in New Jersey during their recent Stanley Cup runs makes him worth far more on the open market. He signs a 5-year deal worth $45M with the New York Rangers.
The free agent market exploded in the early part of the 2000s. The system still wasn’t a true free market system. Players were under team control until they were 31 years of age. Once they hit that age, removed from their primes, they cashed in.
Earlier this summer, Sidney Crosby signed his lifetime guarantee contract in Pittsburgh. He’s under contract for $8.7M of a cap hit until the summer of 2025, when he’ll be 43 38 (doh) years old. Only the Penguins could negotiate with him. But why are the most sought-after players signing in 2012 for the same prices they did ten years ago?
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