Erik Karlsson wanted some time and space.
When the San Jose Sharks acquired the Norris Trophy-winning defenceman in a trade last September, he and his wife told them up front they wouldn't sign a long-term contract until they played a season to see if it was a fit. They gave general manager Doug Wilson their word they would make a decision in enough time let the Sharks plan their off-season.
Karlsson signed two weeks before free agency opened.
"They were letting me play hockey and getting adjusted to everything, and that meant the world to me," Karlsson said after signing for $92 million over eight years . "I'm very happy with how everything happened and that they didn't force me into making a decision earlier than this."
Karlsson is one of several players who might have landed richer contracts via free agency and opted instead to re-sign with their teams. For Karlsson, Philadelphia's Kevin Hayes, Vancouver's Alex Edler, Buffalo's Jeff Skinner, Washington's Carl Hagelin and Tampa Bay's Braydon Coburn, staying put won out over the risk of the open market.
"You never know what's going to be out there if you go to free agency," Edler said. "There's a lot of factors coming up here in the next few years with the potential lockout (and) there's an expansion draft (for Seattle)."
A lower than expected salary cap set at $81.5 million also means there will be less money available all around July 1.
Of course, it's not like most of these deals were hometown discounts. Karlsson got the richest salary for a defenceman in NHL history, Hayes signed for $50 million and Skinner turned a career year into $72 million . No matter the cap, the possibility existed that free agent frenzy could land them bigger deals.
They just didn't want to find out.
"Going to July 1 is nice, (but) it's kind of nice to be able to get it over with and sign with a tremendous team," Hayes said. "July 1 and unrestricted free agency is definitely an intriguing idea. But when I sat down with my agent and we kind of thought about what type of team I'd want to go and where I'd fit into the organization and the team, the Flyers were at the top of the list."
The Flyers acquired the rights to Hayes from Winnipeg in early June and had to sell him on the benefits of playing in Philly. Elsewhere, familiarity helped. Just as Karlsson and wife Melinda got to know the Bay Area and Sharks organization over nine months, Skinner's 40-goal season in Buffalo convinced him to stay.
"Going through the process, you think about everything, you weigh the pros and cons," Skinner said. "We just didn't feel the need to get to that point because I like it here and I didn't feel like it needed to get to that point where I wanted to look elsewhere."
Coburn, who took a pay cut to sign a $3.4 million, two-year contract , said Tampa feeling like home off the ice and "unfinished business" on the ice made staying his family's top choice. After finishing 21 points ahead of the rest of the league and getting swept in the first round of the playoffs, the Lightning are the early favourites to win the Stanley Cup next season.
"We have an unbelievable team here and I want to be a part of it," Coburn said.
Hagelin feels the same way about the Capitals after playing only 27 regular-season and playoff games with them since late February. The 30-year-old feared Washington's salary-cap squeeze might impede him from sticking around but was willing to take a lower salary than he could've gotten on the open market to get an $11 million, four-year deal with a team he believes can win a championship in that time like it did in 2018.
"I wouldn't have signed with Washington if I didn't believe there's still a good chance to win the Stanley Cup," Hagelin said.
Edler last played a playoff game in 2014 and the Canucks are in the midst of a rebuild. Combine that with him being 33 and it might have been easy to understand Edler wanting to test the market. Instead, he had no wanderlust and agreed to a $12 million, two-year deal after 13 seasons with the Canucks.
"I've said from the beginning that if a deal was available with Vancouver, that was my No. 1 priority," Edler said.
Wilson, the Sharks GM, traded for Karlsson and now locked down an elite offensive defenceman for the rest of his prime. Wilson related to their situation because his wife is from Chicago, where he played his entire career, and took the chance that the Karlssons would enjoy San Jose enough to want to stay.
"We trusted in that process," Wilson said.
