"I don't want the NHL to turn into what the NFL has become with their salary cap."
I agree. AND....
Did ANYONE see the ticket prices for NFL games go DOWN because they instituted a salary cap? NO!
If a hard cap is imposed by the owners, don't expect the 'saved' dollars to end up in your pants pocket!!
Salary caps aren't about saving dollars, a salary cap is about increasing competitiveness. One of the disadvantages the NHL has is that there are only half a dozen or so legitimate contenders for the Cup, if you're a fan of some team other than one of the big power houses you know before the season even begins that you're team has little if any chance of winning the Cup, this causes the majority of their teams to play functionally meaningless games that don't create a lot of fan excitement. Compare that to the NFL where next September there's only going be half a dozen teams that have no legitimate claim at a chance to win it all, this creates more fan excitement which is reflected in higher attendance, higher TV ratings, and increased overall revenue. The salary cap was put in for the NFL to make it so teams other than Dallas, NYG, Washington and SF could energize their fan base. The downside is you no longer have these uber teams that are great in all apsects of the game, the upside is you no longer have these uber teams that beat the crap out of everybody else.
The era of the dynasties was really boring for AFC fans, and frankly it's been really boring for Eastern Conference NHL fans, do you realize that Tampa last year was the first Eastern Team not name "Devils" that hoisted the Stanley Cup since the Rangers beat Vancouver in the early 90s? How unexciting was it to be in an Eastern city other than Jersey during that time? You can see how dull it was by what happened to most teams revenue, and the game's TV ratings as a whole. Salary caps might not be good for the pure essence of the game, but for the fiscal survival of the game it's proven to be really good.