That's the thing is signing him to this, if it is 4M, still gives them 14-15 million to sign with. That's why I'm okay with doing it now. Boxing yourself into only having 9M available? Yeah, that's not good. But right now, they can land Karlsson or Breadman no problem and can make a trade to sort out anything else after they get them signed.
It's a non-impact move. There is not a pending disaster in missing out on a big fish because of this move. If they sign another guy before July 1, I change my mind. If it's over 4M, I change my mind.
This move should only anger those who thought that the Wings might go bonkers and try to land BOTH Karlsson and Panarin or other similar high profile UFAs. Both doesn't seem like a reality, but it really never did.
And I guess it's just more that I'm thinking you take care of your internal business so when UFA starts, you can camp on Karlsson's front porch with a blank check and say, we need you and only you. You can now full court press EK with cap space not significantly changed from what it would be if you waited until July (as they're not going to sign a Curtis McElhinney type for 1-2M and have Bernier be the starter after this year.
E: That being said, I would not mind starting in net and making the league minimum if it guaranteed us Erik Karlsson.