These better options are going to want at least 3-4 year deals though, right? I fear that gets us back into the same situation. It looks good at the time but at some point we are going to wait for those deals to end. And I get it's unrealistic to hope to fill every hole with kids, I just hope it starts to move in that direction. I also agree that smarter one year deals like Wiercoich and even Bourque brought in seem to have been a better strategy for patching holes without the commitment.
Yeah and the closer we get to the next lockout the more these FAs are going to want these awful "buyout proof" contracts that yield a low base salary in favor of high signing bonuses (I'm guessing that will be the next "Hill" the owners will die on).
Every free agent signing will entail some risk. There are a few ways to mitigate that risk:
1. Don't sign anyone over 35 (Iginla, Beauchemin, Stuart) to anything more than 1 year.
2. Study their underlying numbers and usage. If they managed decent numbers but did so playing sheltered minutes (Soderberg) then maybe they're not good bets.
3. Obviously if they've become a bit brittle over the years (Horton) then avoid avoid avoid. Of course that can backfire too. Brooks Laich and Steven Stamkos both had extremely good track records of health before signing big deals, and then...
Yes, given how stupid free agency has become, it might be near-impossible to acquire a top-tier guy and avoid paying through the nose. Lower-tier acquisitions appear to be the way to go.
Come to think of it, I don't recall the last time the Avs went big on free agency and had it work out. The most notable FA acquisitions the team has ever made have been Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya (yes, I know they were gotten at a discount but they still count), Ryan Smyth, and Scott Hannan. None of those guys really panned out, even though Smyth and Hannan weren't terrible.
Conversely, when the Avs went smaller, they got much better results: Brisebois (yes, he was good the first year, shut up), Turgeon, Brunette, Laperriere. All those guys made huge contributions for an aging Avs squad that had extremely limited cap room.