Yeah, and this is just me playing amateur psychologist/sociogist. There's taking a discount to keep a team together, if you have that connection, and then there's eschewing taking the big bucks, which was Broberg's dilemma here. Maybe because I'm older and worried more about whatever legacy I have in the career I'm in now I'm thinking this way. I suppose when you're 23 you think you're going to be young forever and have every opportunity come your way, but the NHL graveyard is full of guys who played long careers and didn't get their name on the mug. In a 32-team league, those chances are actually pretty rare.
On the other hand, a squirrel's gotta fill its cheeks with acorns when it's summer, so you maybe you can't turn down the big cheque when it comes either.
I make no moral argument either way. I'm just musing over the mindset.