Unrestricted Free Agents are free to negotiate with any team they choose and Restricted Free Agents are allowed to sign offer sheets if they are submitted.
I have a feeling that free agency is going to be less and less important to hockey teams as we move forward. With the salary cap, teams are more and more willing to sign their younger players to long contracts that last into the player's 30s. At that point, it becomes a risk to sign said player to a long contract. Because of this, free agents will never form the core of a team.
As a supplement to free agency, the offer sheet and the trading of the rights of restricted free agents will become more and more prominent (see Ryan Malone). Because of salary cap restrictions, not every good restricted free agent can be retained by his team. The team can either trade his rights for a combination of assets or allow other teams to submit offer sheets to the player and collect the draft pick compensation.
Do not expect the Blues to ever make many major acquisitions. They will focus on signing their own players as the veteran contracts expire. St. Louis is a small market; the Blues rank in the lower half in revenue in the league and should be expected to have a payroll in the lower half.
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