A 7 v 8 year commitment is negligible IMO.
They won't get the player without going at least 7 it seems, so adding the 8th to lower the cap hit doesn't seem like a big deal. Yes the impact is only ~400k, but that's why its a mid-round pick and not something more valuable that they would give up to have it happen.
I get disagreeing with going 7 to begin with, but I don't think the 8th makes it significantly worse. The alternative to not going 7 is not getting Hyman, and I get preferring that option, but it appears the Oilers want him.
400k in extra cap room when you are right at the ceiling can help with the flexibility of moving players up and down from the minors as well as mid season deals. We saw how tight things were for us last year.
But as Carlton said, he will probably end up on LTIR eventually and perhaps traded at that point.
They won't get the player without going at least 7 it seems, so adding the 8th to lower the cap hit doesn't seem like a big deal. Yes the impact is only ~400k, but that's why its a mid-round pick and not something more valuable that they would give up to have it happen.
I get disagreeing with going 7 to begin with, but I don't think the 8th makes it significantly worse. The alternative to not going 7 is not getting Hyman, and I get preferring that option, but it appears the Oilers want him.
400k in extra cap room when you are right at the ceiling can help with the flexibility of moving players up and down from the minors as well as mid season deals. We saw how tight things were for us last year.
But as Carlton said, he will probably end up on LTIR eventually and perhaps traded at that point.