Team can afford him.
Yes they could have fetched some nice assets for him, but they have a core player locked up long term who can be a leader and mentor for some of their younger players ready to break into the league.
Is the contract rich? Definitely. It won’t age well at all, but they can afford him and he will be a life time flyer so why not.
Fan favourite, pain in the ass to play against, one heck of a hockey player, I don’t see an issue with this signing at all.
Probably wears the C on his chest as well.