They loved Andrew Copp, but they still put him through the arb process in order to end up at pretty much the same number. They also love JMo and KFC, but they also sat out parts of TC, and took a while to get up to speed, perhaps even costing the team some wins, IIRC. I don't get it but it seems to be an org thing, just like 82-game Pionk, a shutdown / energy line setup or 1RW/ PP1 Ancient Mariner Wheeler.
IMO signing Cole at a few dollars more after the Summer of Rutger would have been a PR and team spirit win, but this is how they operate. Still expect to see a signing soon, and still expect that CP is sincere about his feelings for the city and the team, but can't help thinking that if there was a young player in recent years who deserved the org's faith, it's Perfetti. Just get er' done.