When the NHL’s owners went on strike, what they wanted was a promise from the players that salaries would remain affordable no matter how much money they offered to pay them. How, then, do the Capitals end up paying Alex Ovechkin $124 million dollars?

Well, for one thing, they might not have to pay him that much. All contracts under the league’s collective bargaining agreement are scaled to league revenue. If the league continues making the same amount of money it made last year throughout the length of the deal, then the Caps can pay this salary without batting an eyelash. If, on the other hand, revenue slumps ten percent, then all the players will give back ten percent of the money.

Therefore, signing Ovechkin to the most lucrative contract in NHL history isn’t much of a risk. Best case, the team has avoided having to match a free agent offer of $11 million per year for 25 years. Worst case, Ovechkin totally forgets how to play hockey and the Caps are forced to bench him for the life of the contract and ice the kind of team you can get for $10 million less than the salary cap. And who would notice? They’ve been doing that for years.

On a serious note, we’re delighted that Ovechkin and the Capitals have made a long-term commitment to keep one of hockey’s fiercest competitors in Washington. Keeping Ovechkin in a Caps sweater for so many years took courage on both sides. We hope that courage is rewarded with many more years of great hockey.