The unrestricted free agency market is dollar-inflated and, generally, a disappointment not long after the contracts are signed.
If you look at the teams that have won the Stanley Cup in the salary cap era they’ve relied heavily on stars that they drafted. Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Anze Kopitar, Evgeni Malkin, Drew Doughty, Patrice Bergeron – and the list goes on.
They’re all great players that were drafted and re-signed by their teams to cover prime years at excellent monetary value. The unrestricted years still pose financial team threats even from within, but the value lies within eating up RFA years with an early extension – like immediately after the ELC.