Quoting: AC14
Every single team in the NHL is getting an additional 4m+ of cap space to work with this summer. Also, almost every team that's in contention has a hole somewhere on their blue line. Guys a 40 point defenseman who is reliable defensively. He should be in line for the same contract someone would be willing to give out to Hanifin, which to be honest I don't see how it's any lower than 7.5 unless you can add the 8th year.
The UFA crop isn't great this year, and that's midway through the season, i'd bet alot of guys get locked up once the seasons over.
Okay, lots of different things to consider in there, so pardon my breaking it into pieces...
1 - Bro, seriously... go look at Florida's cap situation this summer. A little 4$M ain;t gonna solve their problems. They have 10 players signed for next season, more than half a roster to fill with only $28M in cap space, little to no prospect strength set to come through, no 1st rounders to deal until their '27 and two of the other UFAs are cornerstone pieces Reinhart and Montour, who one would imagine will cost a good $15-16M to keep. Florida is in MAJOR doodoo, my friend.
2 - Hanifin will be overpaid for sure, but he's one of the "hot items" (Forsling is not, people tend to forget he exists) and he has a longer track record.
3 - There are definitely some tasty morsels among UFA Dmen, and most of them are on teams that likely cannot afford them even though they won't be getting mega-mega-AAVs. Roy, Pesce, DeMelo, Walker, Carrier, Chatfield, etc. It's not exactly a barren shelf.