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Contraction doesn't really fix the problem.
Let's say you contract two teams that were losing 15 million a year. Since NHL revenue just went up by 30 million, the salary cap goes up.
Except revenues didn't actually increase. The amount of money Toronto or Carolina or St. Louis is taking in didn't go up; negative receipts were taken away.
So the problem of having teams that can barely spend to the cap floor without losing millions isn't fixed at all.
And the difference between the haves and the have nots isn't the problem either. Every sports League on the planet has teams that make more money than others, due to market size, fan passion, constant success, a sexy logo, or whatever. The problem is that in the other 3 leagues in North America (well, this is a big issue for the NBA as well, so 2), the lower half isn't just behind the big markets: the lower half is losing serious money.
So to fix this, you need to either:
--Cut costs, or:
--Increase income (revenue sharing).
Contraction doesn't lead to either of those solutions. It just worsens them.
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