The owners wanted a salary cap to keep spending down, while the players union, naturally, did not want a cap. The owners won.

Or did they?

Free-agency season is nearly over, and most of the big names are off the market. There are still four who are jobless - Mats Sundin, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Teemu Selanne - but any or all might retire.

Vancouver reportedly offered Sundin a two-year, $20-million contract. For a 37-year-old who hasn't played a full season or scored 80 points in six years.

Not even Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby - the past two league MVPs and scoring champions - make $10 million per season.

So much for the owners policing themselves.

Sundin hasn't accepted that contract, despite rumors to the contrary, but it's hardly the only overpriced contract. The worst is the four-year, $14-million deal that Toronto gave defenseman Jeff Finger.

Finger, 28, enjoyed a solid season. However, he was a rookie who made $475,000 last year. His point totals were not spectacular - eight goals, 19 points and a plus-12 - and did not merit a raise of more than $3 million. Finger has potential but is unproven.

Finger was so good that he was a healthy scratch in half of Colorado's 10 playoff games.

According to Ray Slover of The Sporting News, even Finger was surprised at the amount, saying it was twice what he expected.

Other players who received a raise of $3 million or more include former Penguin Ryan Malone (Tampa Bay) and Kristian Huselius (Columbus). The Lightning are paying Malone $31 million over seven years and Huselius will earn $4.75 million over four years.

Know how many 50-point seasons those two players have combined to achieve? Three.

One reason for the high contracts from this offseason was the low number of marquee players who were available. Except for forward Marian Hossa and defenseman Brian Campbell, there were not many game-breaking players who were jobless. Low supply, high demand, higher contracts.

Regardless of the depth of the free-agent class, it is a disturbing trend that cannot continue, or there will be a repeat of four years ago. Certain teams (Detroit, the Rangers) enjoyed a definite advantage in the pre-salary-cap era. The cap levels the playing field somewhat, but the owners - and their general managers - still have to control themselves.

Hopefully, the NHL's salary floor won't hurt the situation. The lower payroll limit isn't a bad idea - teams will spend on players rather than the owners pocketing the profits - but it can lead to overspending in order to meet the limit.

For the upcoming season, the salary floor is $40.7 million. Three teams are currently under that amount: Atlanta, Los Angeles and Phoenix. The Thrashers and Coyotes should have no trouble reaching the limit.

The Kings, however, have more salary space available ($28.944 million) than devoted to their 14 players ($27.756 million). Considering a team dresses 20 players a game and usually has several healthy or injured scratches, Los Angeles needs to add players and salary.

General managers are even fighting each other over salary increases. Last July, Edmonton's Kevin Lowe signed Ducks restricted free agent Dustin Penner to a five-year, $21.25-million offer sheet that Anaheim did not match. Ducks GM Brian Burke, who felt the money was too much for Penner, referred to the offer sheet as "an act of desperation" by a GM "fighting to keep his job."

This year, Burke re-signed Corey Perry to a deal similar to Penner's, then blamed Lowe for the salary rise. Lowe responded by calling Burke a "moron."

The feud forced Principal Gary Bettman to chastise the two GMs in a conference call.

The players union has the option to terminate the current collective bargaining agreement after the upcoming season. That means the league could be headed for another lockout.

If that happens, maybe the owners and GMs will learn to control their spending.

Or maybe that's too much to hope for.

Kevin Jacobsen can be reached at kjacobsen@observer-reporter.com

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