A day late and a dollar short for my comments
I have been on the record from day one saying I don't like long term deals for 30 year olds. That being said I think they found a balance on this deal. The AAV hit is approximately market value but the term at 5 years is key. I also like the back dive of $6 million in year five, and the 14 team no trade list that kicks in after year three. This provides options to exit the deal after 3 seasons which is really impressive. I ragged on Chevy for dragging his feet and screwing up the Frolik deal but on the flip side this one shows the upside of patience. They drove a pretty tough but fair bargain to retain their top defenseman.
On a personal note when he isn't driving me crazy
I find Buff very entertaining as a player and personality. A big part of why I go to the games live is to be entertained and to that end he delivers. Also, I believe Maurice has brought the best out of Buff. Dusty has looked reasonably fit over the last two seasons by his standards and although Buff's flaws will always exist they are less evident to me under Paul.
Unless we were going to completely blow this up I think we had to retain one of Ladd or Buff.
Hopefully he keeps producing at a similar rate over the next three seasons.