Long-Term Contracts in the NHL

It seems that recently, there have been a bunch of long term, high priced contracts being formed in the NHL. A few years ago it was Marian Hossa, with his 12 year, $62.8 Million contract. There was Duncan Keith, with a 13 year, $72 Million contract. There was Roberto Luongo, the shaky and frankly undeserving goaltender from Vancouver with a 12 year, $64 Million deal, the whopping 15 year $100 Million deal that kept Ilya Kovalchuk in New Jersey. Now, there is Sidney Crosby with a 12 year, $104.4 Million contract and Jonathan Quick with a 10 year, $58 Million dollar extension. I believe that these long-term deals are actually good for fans. It takes you back to the early days of the NHL, when guys like Richard, Hull, Howe, Mikita, and Orr stayed in one place and didn't really move from team to team. It brings fans a sense of security: they can start to love these players because they don't really have to fear them leaving anytime soon. The players can also settle down and not have to worry about leaving (unless their massive contract gets traded) so they and their families can relax about that. On the other hand, many of these deals are front-loaded, meaning they pay the majority of their money the first maybe 5 or 6 years of the contract and then in the last few years dwindle down to maybe a million dollars or so. This allows the cap HIT to be less, allowing the player to be signed under the salary cap restrictions that many teams are faced with. So, in a way, it is like cheating, which isn't good, and the NHL will have to eventually say enough is enough with the front-loaded contracts because it gets around the rules of the collective bargaining agreement. But for now, as long as teams are able, they seem to be wanting to snatch up their star players with huge, long-term contracts and big money.