1. He probably bought insurance against the long-term deals he had on the table
2. If it goes badly in BUF, he probably ends up on a contender. If it goes well in BUF, he looks the difference maker.
3. Next year's UFA crop might be even weaker than this year's...but it will be interesting to see how many deals are signed and waiting in desk drawers to be pulled out the day after expansion draft.
Highly unlikely that Ovechkin/Getzlaf hit UFA. Similar for Krejci/Landeskog/Gallagher...maybe RNH.
If Hamilton hits UFA, he would be similar to Pietrangelo...not sure anyone else is at Krug's level; the next tier is Larsson, R Murray, D Savard, and a few decent D-men in their early 30s.
Goaltending similar, if not a bit weaker than this year (depending on who hits UFA): Andersen/Rask/Binnington/Rinne/Allen/Grubauer/Mrazek
Much like this year, the rest of the forwards available are a tier below (and who knows how many hit UFA). In order of pts from the most recent season:
Tatar
Schwartz
Danault
E Staal
Palmieri
Pearson
Gusev
Iafallo (likely extended)
Stastyn
Hyman
Bonino
Saad
Coleman
Foligno
Armia
M Johansson
Bozak
Dzingel
Derek Ryan
Stepan
Laughton
etc.
TLDR: very good chance Hall is by far the prettiest girl at the UFA dance next year, or at worst he's competing with Hamilton and RNH in a far friendlier environment for UFAs.
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