All that money can’t buy a Cup
Forbes
If only it meant something to the bottom line. Which, in an ideal world, would be winning the Stanley Cup, at least if GTA hockey fans were the ones setting the agenda. But the fact the Maple Leafs have been newly rated by Forbes magazine as the most valuable team in the NHL really doesn’t mean much in terms of wins and losses and ending the franchise’s long, long Cup drought.
Indeed, it means less now than it ever did, at least to the hockey enterprise.
It may mean Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment can reach more comfortably into new commercial and residential real estate ventures, or it may mean the new Major League Soccer squad may start with better Portuguese or Brazilian imports, but to the Leafs it means far less than it meant even three years ago. The Leafs, now valued at $325 million ( all figures U. S.), according to Forbes, can’t behave like the New York Yankees and spend their brains out in hopes of compiling the best roster in the game. The salary cap, $39 million per team, limits what they can spend. Indeed, the NHL cap is so restrictive that, unlike the NFL or NBA with its soft cap, teams can’t willingly dole out bonuses and contracts to their own free agents that take them well beyond the “ cap.”
In the NHL, you get a maximum of $39 million to spend. Period. The financial might of an individual NHL team no longer matters very much, although you could make the argument
don’t know,” Peddie said. “ We’re not for sale right now.”
Peddie did acknowledge that the $39 million salary cap has been a boon to all NHL teams, including the Leafs. Not only do they save about $30 million in player salaries, but fixed costs make a company far more attractive to potential buyers.
“ I think the new collective bargaining agreement was very good for enterprise value,” Peddie said. “ We saw that in the NBA.” But it’s not simply market forces and a salary cap that have made the Leafs so successful, the New York-based Ozanian said.
“ For a couple of years, people have been pointing out that ( the Leafs) are really doing a good job up there,” he said. “ It’s one of the top hockey markets in North America and they’ve usually been going a couple of rounds in the playoffs. They don’t have a crazy payroll. They’ve got a lot of good things going up there.”
Ozanian predicted the viability of at least two NHL franchises will become a relevant topic very soon.
“ The two places where I think there will not be teams in two years are Carolina and Atlanta,” Ozanian said, “ and I still need more convincing in Florida and Nashville.”