What if he believes in getting 9.5$ million per year playing in Manhattan or Orange County, or Miami? Playing for real NHL teams with real governance structures.
I know what I would do
The only reason I could see him staying is....
-We are willing to overpay him.
-He is really into the idea of being the guy on a team. There aren't many other teams that can offer him the opportunity of being the captain and face of the franchise both from the connections already made in the locker room, and off the ice.
-There's more going on behind the scenes regarding a sale and/or investors than we know about, and he has some assurance that our poor ownership will be resolved early into his contract.
The problem with overpaying Stone is that he's likely to get 10-12 million a year for 7 years with front loaded money and signing bonuses if he is a free agent on July 1st since teams already overpay free agents on July 1st. With that being the bar, what kind of overpayment could the Senators make without significant signing bonuses or upfront money?
The only real hope is that Stone buys into the idea of being the face of the franchise. That, or Brady Tkachuk is really funny in person.