Quoting: LGDRW
Look at your cap space for next year, You don't have $9,500,000 to $10,000,000 per to offer Matthew Barzal. $17,000,000 to sign 9 players isn't going to cut it.
Quoting: littlejerryseinfeld
No one ever uses long term outlook, shame.
This is a non-issue. Moving out Labanc and Simek opens up cap space (~7mil). So does buying out Vlasic (frees up ~3.5mil in space). You have a few expiring UFA deals as well and can trade out a mid-contract guy like Lindblom. I get that they all have to be replaced, but Sharks would replace them internally with guys like Robins/Coe, Hatakka/Cicek, Gushchin. Then you also have the salary cap increasing between 1-2mil next year.
I do consider long term outlook in my AGM rosters. Two other points:
1) long-term outlook/roster isn't set in stone -- teams work their way around cap difficulties all the time, it's part of being a GM in the NHL or we wouldn't have trades/signings at the TDL and offsesason, and
2) SJ already has Meier, who's set to receive a similar contract to Barzal. It's not like this roster isn't grounded in something similar to what already exists.