Well didn't he have to overpay due to the blunder in almost missing the deadline to retain them?
Yes, but he had a habit of giving big contracts if they having a good year or had a good year.
after or during the 08-09 season
Sharp went from $775k to $3.9 mil (This was a UFA contract)
Buff $668k to $3 mil RFA
Bolland $845k to $3.375 RFA
Tallon did not like to use his leverage to keep cap hits down. If he would have, then the 2010 purge would not have been as deep.
The RFA screw up was never really Tallon's fault but he took the fall. From what I heard, a employee screwed it up. The employee forgot to factor in Canada Day for mail and overnight deliveries. In those years, the Hawks had a really bad habit of sending offers late and it caught up to them.
I am far from being a big Tallon fan but the man was a straight shooter when I had the chance to talk to him a few times at Blackhawk season ticket holder events. Not to many GMs would tell you that former players would rather party than care about the team.