Seemed like a handshake deal to stay under the cap, Sharks gave him a big extension after that. Ie, instead of a 5 year, 19.9 million dollar contract (3.98 mil AAV), it was a 1 year deal x 1 mil followed by a 4 year deal at 18.9 million (4.725 mil).
I would have felt bad for him if the GM had been fired after the first year and the new GM didn't honor the presumed extension. But Labanc was seemingly made whole with the subsequent contract, so I don't think he necessarily lost a big chunk of money.
