Buffalo Sabres: Should They Offer-Sheet Anyone This Offseason?

June 12th, 2015 by Matt Clouden Leave a reply »
The NHL has made some strides in recent years, but in some other aspects the league is still an old boys' club. 

The league's stance on restricted free agents is potentially the biggest example of this notion. 

As with every other major sports league, the NHL has two types of free agents: unrestricted and restricted. Unrestricted free agents are free to go anywhere, talk to anyone and sign any deal they wish. RFAs can sign any deal they want, but their current team has the right to match any offer, and if they do not, the offering team must send draft picks along as compensation. 

The system in and of itself is fair. A team needs to be given every opportunity to continue to build with its young talent, so providing a system that allows that to a certain extent is common sense. If the team decides to move on, they should be given some compensation for having their cupboards raided. 

So the issue is not the system—it's the infrequency of any offers being made. 

In 2006, Ryan Kesler signed the first offer sheet since 1999 when the Philadelphia Flyers and their then-general manager, Bob Clarke, s ...

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