[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

A key point in the offer sheet is the total dollars is divided over 5 years. So a 7 year offer of $6M per year for a total of $42M would actually be an offer of $8.4M per year, as per this:

"
In reality, the Offer Sheet value is determined by taking the total value (salary, and signing/reporting bonuses), and dividing it by either the number of seasons the offer is for or five - whichever is lower. This means that the offer sheet value is the same as the AAV if the offer is for five years or less, but for six and seven year offer sheets the offer sheet value will be significantly higher than the actual AAV. The value increases each year, based on the growth in the league's average salary.
For example, a seven year contract with a cap hit of $7 million would have an offer sheet value of $9.8 million ($49m total value divided by 5) - worth four first round picks instead of a first, second and third like a five year, $7m per year contract would be."

Yeah that is the key.

You'd think that you have to be at at least 7 x $7.5M for the Flames to feel uncomfortable matching - and at that point the Flames are getting 4 first round picks.