Take a look at Toronto. They're just now entering the serious Cup contender phase, and this summer will be a major exercise to try and keep everybody. Unless it's an absolute no-brainer of a player to keep, you want as much cost control as possible as you build your roster.
Now obviously that doesn't mean you go to the extreme of having 100 percent ELC's and scrub veterans making the league minimum on 1-year deals. But from Nyquist's perspective, he should be shooting for one last golden parachute of a contract, and from Detroit's perspective, they're not in the best position to extend that luxury to a winger.