Quote:Written Task:  What is your opinion on the NHL salary cap? Is it great? Bad? Needs improvement? Tell me why. Is there another league that has a cap structure you like more? Do you have a compelling argument for removing it all together? Would allowing teams that could afford to spend extra money on players be too unfair in this day and age? What do you think? (150+ words)

My answer will not be about the actual bugdet cap as I have not much experience telling if 3 M is much or not enough. As an european I am more intrigued by the concept of a salary cap in itself. You see in my country soccer is by far the most popular sport and it does not have any salary cap whatsoever.
However this is also true for over sports since Europe lacks the College system and drafting that North America has going for them. I think the idea of a salary cap is very intriguing and healthy for a competitive scene. Pointing back at soccer, this sport became so terribly predictable: Money wins games.
While this is not always the case (see PSG) the German Bundesliga is being dominated by Bayern Munich, the team with the biggest budget. To be fair, it also took good management decisions to reach the high point Munich is at for decade now, but they would have probably been dethroned already if some sheikh bought Dortmund and started pumping billions into it. This is also why over the years I completely stopped watching soccer and other german sports, except lower level hockey.

I fully transitioned to watching NHL/NFL and go over many lenghts to be able to watch it (pricing/unfortunate game times), because it is just so much more fun. Every season is a new kind of exciting. A trash tier team drafts a guy like Joe Burrow or Tim Stützle and suddenly look promising. Teams hae holes in their roster and they actually have to solve the problem by thinking strategically and not throwing money at it. Dynasties happen (Patriots for example) but they exist, because you got generational talent or coaching instead of wealth. A salary cap keeps all of this in check and allows a fair chance for everyone to hoist the cup.

I know this system cannot be implemented in Europe for the mentioned reasons, but damn I wish it could be.