[Sylvanfan]

At this point, the deal that Franson received, is likey the best that the Russell camp can hope for if he's looking for more than 1 year of term.

Certainly they could go into the season and wait for an injury or two to play out, but that might help you get more money on a one year deal. If he's looking for some sort of term, than what's available in the current offers out there is likely the best he'll get. I don't see anyone giving him a NMC, so he's very likely going to be exposed in the expansion draft.

Russel's not old, but we're starting to see some similar trends to 05-07 where a lot of seemingly decent 28-31 year old guys starting having a real tough time landing NHL jobs, and unable to get deals longer than one year.