@Anglesmith Lindholm could negotiate with whomever he wanted, the Dlames just have the right to match, Lindholm passed on that to elect arbitration. And as I stated above he could have accepted a 2 year arbitration settlement and gone to UFA in 2020.
Also RFA and UFA years are things because fans keep parroting the terms. This day in age, a RFA with arbitration and offersheet rights, aren't much different than UFAs in the dollars they earn
The existence of offer sheets does not equate to a lack of restriction. In the case of an offer sheet, the offering team must pay assets to acquire the player, which in itself sets that situation apart from being a UFA, without going into all of the other complications which lead to offer sheets being practically non-existent in the NHL.
And as I said, arbitration is not capable of getting you a deal comparable to a UFA deal, because UFA deals are not able to be used as comparables.
Whether RFA or UFA, term is appealing to players as it removes the risk of not getting paid if they get hurt. It also increases the dollars they earn in the short term due to "buying UFA years."
No matter how you slice it, RFAs are at an unfavourable bargaining position compared to UFAs. That difference is reflected in case studies like Lindholm/Henrique, but also in the fact that the NHL arbitration rules specifically forbid them to be compared in an official sense. There isn't really any valid argument to the contrary.
If you see a GM paying an RFA UFA value (and there are examples like Draisaitl), that GM is an idiot.