But the big controversy behind the super-long, front-loaded contracts is that it allows a team to pay top dollar for a star but without the full cap hit, with the understanding that the player will probably retire before the full 10-year-plus deal is up anyway.

For example, if Martin St. Louis were to be signed to a 15-year deal that pays him $6 million a year the first 5 years, then only $1 million a year for the next 10. St. Louis is pretty old, and probably won’t play more than 5 more years anyway, but because his contract salary is so low for so long, it drops his cap hit from $6 million (what they’re actually paying him) to $2.67 million.

(That’s an extreme and unrealistic example, but you get the concept.)