While my reasoning was partly due to the institution of the Salary Cap (regardless of what they now sit at), a lot of my decision also was based on the changes to how the game was played.
From this season we got changes to the dynamics of the rink, the institution of the shootout, the trapezoid for goalies behind the next and other area. While they came into effect for the 05-06 season (and certainly, 05-06 should be another major write-in candidate IMO), the rules went through experimentation in 04-05 in the AHL.
Plus, for the first time in a long time, you had bona fide NHL frontliners literally playing across the world, be it in the A, Sweden or Russia. At least in my eyes, this played a big part in leagues like the KHL being able to sign away superstars from the NHL, and that they didn't just have to deal with castaways.
