Arguments for increasing cap in my league

[Samfolds]

Hi guys.

First league in sig. Our current cap is set at NHL cap + 7.5M (which means we have 82.5M for 2017-2018). Also of note:
1) We are using actual salaries, not cap hit.
2) There are 15 teams in the league.
3) We CAN'T acquire free agents, we can only draft 1 each year (or trade with other players).

I'm looking at building a case for increasing it and would like your inputs/arguments. Here are my thoughts:

1) We are at the mercy of GMs and the enormous amount of money they are sometimes willing to pay "so-so" players.
2) New contracts are being front loaded... Since we are using actual salaries rather than cap hit, this hits us even more and prevents us from having stability on our roster.
3) We can't compensate the drop of players due to the 2 reasons above with finding good bargains on the waiver wire because there is none.
4) The NHL player pool consists of 31 teams at 75M = 2305M. We are using about half of that in our league, meaning that very good players with high salaries are left untouched.
5) This one is more anectdotal, but the cap tightness seems to favor non-sense trade. This summer, we saw Stamkos get traded for the 4th overall and 8th overall picks of this year's rookie draft... I find this ridiculous, but then again, cap space is an asset and no one in the league voiced a problem with the trade.

Do you guys have any other arguments before I make the proposal to my league?

Thanks for your help on this!

[Eskimo Brother]

Point 4 hinges on how many players you roster on a day to day basis.

You seem to have covered the main points though.

[rataylor22]

Personally think you'd have more luck switching to cap hit than raising the cap. Your cap number seems fine.

[tobias]

Personally think you'd have more luck switching to cap hit than raising the cap. Your cap number seems fine.

I agree with this. Cap hits are what are used in real life. Why wouldn't you want to use them in fantasy, too? If you switched to cap hits, then reduce to using the real salary cap, as well, and I would imagine that most of your concerns would be met. Patrick Kane, for example, at 10.5 is a player in your league, whereas at 13.8, he's likely not.

[Daydream Nation]

The problem is that it's not fair to the teams that managed their cap well and are in much better shape compared to the rest of the league. Diminishing that advantage is not fair to them. At the minimum make this change in the next offseason and I would even say in 2 seasons in order for everyone to prepare for this change.

[tobias]

^^ Yes, excellent point! ^^

We give a full season's notice before we implement big changes in our league. We'll be meeting in August to discuss any potential big changes, which would then go into affect for the 2018-2019 season.