What was up with this past off-season? The NHL experienced a rather tame free agency this year; no max terms or outrageous cap hits, no player was overpaid like we’ve seen in past years’ time.

Top free agents such as Mike Green, Michael Frolik, Matt Beleskey and Andrej Sekera all signed to reasonable terms and cap hits, and going into August, players Cody Franson, Christian Erhoff and Curtis Glencross are still valuable names without a team.

What was different this year compared to the rest?

As per the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the compliance buyouts (the option to buy out a contract without having any subsequent effect on the team’s salary cap) expired prior to the 2014-2015 season. The new CBA also ended the era of lifer contracts like the ones Parise, Suter and Luongo are on. Teams can no longer offer these type of maximum year, front loaded contracts, nor should they want to.

The aforementioned players are anomalies to such type of terms; players that were on lengthy, overpaid contracts were the target of compliance buyouts. There is a history of players signing lifer deals only to be cut not a few years later due to extremely diminishing returns. Brad Richards and Christian Erhoff were bought out not a few years after their signings and were essentially given subsequent one-year offers to still prove they were of service.

The track record of buyouts also serves in the best interest of players; rather than going for the sexiest dollar amount or length, players and agents should temper their demands. Matt Beleskey at a $3.8 million cap hit is not outrageous whether he scores 20+ goals or not. Mike Green’s contract won’t demand him to put up 50-60 points (would be nice for Detroit) but will have him play with reasonable expectations.

With the top names going at a reasonable price, that leaves the lesser yet still valuable names like Franson and Glencross (Come back to Calgary!) still searching for a team. In a different time, these types of players would have been signed already, and likely for more than what they will get now.

The CBA not only affected management and player’s strategies when it comes to Unrestricted Free Agency, but also affected how teams handle Restricted Free Agents (RFA).

The difference in UFA and RFA is that RFAs are limited to negotiating exclusively with their respective team and cannot discuss contracts with outside sources, although other managers may send an offer sheet contract. If the offer sheet is signed, the team holding the RFA rights have a small window to either match that offer, or let the player go for a package of draft picks based on the contract structure.

RFAs tend to be younger, more touted players such as Brandon Saad or Dougie Hamilton. You know, players that most teams want to build around.

So why were they traded almost immediately after the season ended?

It all comes back to management’s strategy on controlling the long-term feasibility of the salary cap. Just as teams would not want to sign players to overpriced, long-term deals, General Managers (GM) are very aware and perhaps fearful of the idea of an offer sheet.

A Saad or a Hamilton are young players on the brink of stardom. Currently in their early 20s they have already shown that they can handle first line minutes and productivity. These are the players any team would go after, and Chicago and Boston respectively, were quite aware of that fact.

Instead of going through what could have been a lengthy negotiating process with an offer sheet coming from any team at any given day, Saad and Hamilton were traded even before the official Free Agency date had begun.

Chicago is the poster-child for salary cap hell; years prior they had traded Ladd, Byfuglien and Versteeg to meet the cap ceiling. Now, they had just traded one of their top and youngest wingers in Saad. Rather than face the on-going possibility of another team offering an unmanageable contract and then being forced to decide if they could match the offer or collect draft picks, Saad was traded for a package that would not only provide future salary relief but will now help the Hawks restructure for another Cup run.

Dougie Hamilton was a similar story. Boston was in serious cap problems, and having just missed the playoffs felt it was time for a reset. In years prior teams would have traded lesser players to create negotiating room. Very fearful that Hamilton would have been targeted almost immediately by other teams, the rising star was traded to Calgary for a collection of picks, giving the Bruins future salary relief and options for re-tooling.

A lockout ago, Saad and Dougie Hamilton would have sat through the summer negotiating with their team for a deal. Now, General Managers have increased their risk management and thus have changed the way they approach Free Agents. This past off-season suggests a much stronger forward-thinking and long-term outlook from management. With no compliance options and a track record of failed lengthy contracts, teams can no longer afford a bidding war for one or two top UFA names. Certain teams will now have to reassess their handling of RFAs, as they must heavily consider time constraints for negotiations and the risk of offer sheets and decide whether they can afford the time and salary to sign certain players, or see them traded before those risks even set in.

What you will see now in the future is less big contracts being handed out on July 1st, and more teams potentially trading top, young stars in order to better manage their salary in future years.