Matt Larkin: “If you offer sheet someone for five-plus years, AAV inflator divides your salary number by five no matter what.
So a seven-year, $70-million offer sheet carries $14 million AAV, not $10 million, for draft-pick compensation purposes.
VERY hard to avoid four-1st-rounder threshold.”
Chris Johnston: “Important note on offer sheets: NHL teams that have already traded their 2020 1st-round pick are still eligible to tender a max offer using the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 picks.
So — cap space issues aside — every team technically has the ability to do one on July 1.