Strongly agree. Signing any vet to term is more blockage for young talent.
Miro may be on a faster track than many have expected, CCM seems to have regained his confidence and may be ready, HL not far behind, Protas may take a further step up as he has eventually done at every other level he played at, etc.
There is some possibility whoever we get at 8 OA could be on the Caps in year and could be something special (maybe one of Leonard/Smith/Moore/Benson).
After we see where we are with new talent acquired at the draft, any pre UFA day moves out (Kuzy, Mantha, maybe even one of Fever or AA if it made sense in a deal) and put that all in context of what they then know about Backstrom's status... then, maybe we need a stop gap addition to the top 6 or back end for one or at most two years.
And in that case someone who fits that mix, not another high cost, long term name.