just an off the top of my head theory, no proof or anything, just an idea:
UFA age at 27 instead of 31 hurts the majority of union members in that age bracket because a GMmight well offer a 1.4 mil QO to a 3rd liner as an RFA, because that GM has no other equivalent replacement options.
These 3rd line 28 year old guys might not be worth more than 1.1 or 1.2 mil on the open market, but because everyone qualifies their guys a team has no option but to qualify their own guys because if they let them go then it's likely that at least 1 team will beat their 1.4 mil offer because of the scarcity of that guy. That player is scarce not because there aren't many of them in the league, but because every team expects every other team to qualify their equivalent players, and therefore none of them are on the market. The only guys they can get to replace them are older UFA's (31 +) who may or may not be as good at the same or a higher price, or guys who are way worse and aren't qualified, and might cost 600K as a UFA.
???
UFA age at 27 instead of 31 hurts the majority of union members in that age bracket because a GMmight well offer a 1.4 mil QO to a 3rd liner as an RFA, because that GM has no other equivalent replacement options.
These 3rd line 28 year old guys might not be worth more than 1.1 or 1.2 mil on the open market, but because everyone qualifies their guys a team has no option but to qualify their own guys because if they let them go then it's likely that at least 1 team will beat their 1.4 mil offer because of the scarcity of that guy. That player is scarce not because there aren't many of them in the league, but because every team expects every other team to qualify their equivalent players, and therefore none of them are on the market. The only guys they can get to replace them are older UFA's (31 +) who may or may not be as good at the same or a higher price, or guys who are way worse and aren't qualified, and might cost 600K as a UFA.
???
