Perhaps DW has a plan to ditch Kane, Vlasic, or Burns in 2-3 years if they start to decline, or if the Sharks have cap troubles? The way that he is just handing out 7-8Y, $7-8M contracts as soon as he can is just downright hilarious. It’s not even the contracts, but when they’re being signed. Vlasic was signed 365 days before he would hit UFA; as was Jones. Burns was signed early in the 2016-2017 season, and Kane was signed before the SCF even started.
Perhaps what he saw from Brad Stuart and the subsequent return he got for Stuart in trade showed him that GMs really do watch very little hockey, have awful pro scouting, and will trade for a player based on what they did 2-3 seasons ago? Maybe his thought process is that worst case, in 2-3 years, if Vlasic/Burns/Kane totally fall off a cliff, he can retain 2-3M and still get a strong return for them, based on the players they are today?
There has to be something we don’t know, because these Jones, Vlasic, Burns, and Kane contracts are just hilarious and totally out of character for DW.