That's exactly what player development for the Habs needs to succeed in doing from now until those contracts expire. Rather than need to give a D like Benn a raise, for example, to keep him aboard, we need to be able to adequately replace him from within. Same for Schlemko. That's how the team will be able to control the Cap constraints and pay their better players the big contracts they will command. Either they play the youngster or they use that as leverage to re-sign the veteran at a more reasonable cost (if they truly want to stay with the team, obviously).
Overpaying for 3rd pairing Ds or 3rd and 4th line players is just a recipe for disaster. It's like when a team wins a Cup and their complementary players whose contracts are expired now line up for huge raises.
Makes no sense to give it to them. The team just likely won because of the Cap flexibility which their previous contracts had given the GM to sign better players in more vital positions.
