At first I was in total agreement that the offer sheet angle didn’t make sense since anything below 10.5 they probably match and anything ridiculously above 10.5 they take the picks… BUT there is another aspect, which is the rumour via Zadorov that internally they are saying no rebuild to the players.
Another club could cause a bit of a problem by offering something in the 11.5+ range, either handcuffing the flames cap-wise or forcing them to go back on their (rumoured internal) promise to the players that they aren’t rebuilding. I don’t know how plausible that is but I think it’s not totally crazy.
How important is the reputation hit if they have to change course on rebuilding? I don’t know, but it’s plausible that removing the possibility of offer sheet does matter. More time for negotiations and removing the possibility of a holdout may be the more important motivators for this move though. I have no idea I’m just speculating of course.
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