They offered him a 1 year contract. He wanted 2 years. I believe the offer was short term because they were still invested in Raymond, wanting to see what he would develop into. Locking down Higgins was automatic. Then the question was which one of the remaining tweener LWers they were going to keep long-term. That was between Raymond and Torres.
It's fine to have 3 bottom9 LWers making 3rd line money, for a time. Sooner or later though, a call usually gets made regarding 4th line players making that higher salary.
I believe the offer was short term because Raffi likes to party. Agree to disagree.