Because it's still money being committed to a player they seem worthy of the salary. Had they not seen the value in the player, they could have very easily chosen not to qualify him and it would've opened up an additional $2m+ to potentially re-sign one of their Impending UFAs.How does signing virtanen to a two year deal relate to not signing a goalie or D man
They were minimizing their payroll because of COVID. Them paying Virtanen meant they still saw value in the player. And why wouldn't they? He was coming off of a season very similar to the one Puljujarvi just had in terms of offensive production.