Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
It's just another cautionary tale of free agency. Most of the big fish turn into big busts. Happens every year yet teams continue to make the same mistakes overpaying players for past performance out of total desperation. When you consider what the Flames had to give up to get this contract done, it's one of the bigger debacles in franchise history.
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I think the new unwritten rule for the Flames when considering a UFA contract is a max term of 3 years. It doesn't matter how good the player is, 3 years is the max. You do well? You get another contract after those 3 years, but the reality is that even if the player does well for those 3 years, they're likely going to be less valuable or on a decline heading into their 30-31-32 year old seasons. Let someone else give them a contract after that.
The problem is there's always one team willing to sacrifice their team on the last 4 years of a deal just to get those first 3 years. It almost always hamstrings the team's cap situation.
Max UFA deal of 3 years. Spend the money on the RFA contracts instead and maybe take a guy to age 32 on one of those RFA deals. You'll likely get a lot more value that way than paying a UFA*.
*Joe Pavelski notwithstanding.