Signing a high-end UFA to be one of your core players, like Tavares or Carlson would be? That’s an iffy proposition. You could argue Chicago did it, and won, with Marian Hossa. But it’s not easy to find another good example in the recent past.

There will be a lot of pressure on certain teams to sign Tavares or Carlson.The hard part for teams is to resist the temptation. But when it all heats up over the next few weeks, the smart teams, the winning teams, probably will.

-Damien Cox of the Toronto Star. More on this topic from Cox.