This is what I am envisioning to happen, Bob. My post on the last page reflects this. At the end of the day here, Little and Wheeler are set to be UFA's next July, so in my opinion they pretty well hold ALL of the leverage here. Chevy can either pay them close to what they're demanding, or we'll lose them in a year. It is as simple as that. Teams across the league would envy signing these two (Little between 4.5-5 / Wheeler 5-6) as UFA's next July. You've got Little who is a reliable and very serviceable #2 centre who can shuffle up if need be. You've got Wheeler who is on the upswing and entering his prime as a big, speedy 60-65+ point RW'er.
Either we sign them, or someone else will. That's my take. While they are our players, in my opinion Chevy pretty well has to negotiate with them as if they are UFA's, if not we'll lose them. We can pay them perhaps a touch lower this upcoming season given it's their final year of RFA status, but after that we will need to pay them solid market value, or mightily close to it, in my opinion.
I just don't see any way around it and I don't expect 'home town discounts' by any means.