This quip from the Globe and Mail's Eric Duhatschek may summarize the insanity we're about to witness in the best terms possible:

Historically, NHL GMs make more mistakes in free agency than at any other time in the year, knowing they’ll have to overpay to get the players they want and often ruing decisions long after the fact.

Some believe the collective pursuit of unrestricted free agents will be more sober this summer because of the aforementioned shrinking cap – and that reasonable, cautious, prudent spending habits will be the order of the day.

Odds are, that’s going to be wrong again.

Privately, a lot of GMs believe league revenues will soar next year, meaning the cap is going right back up, perhaps by as much as $10-million. That anticipation – and thinking big-picture, long-term thoughts – will play into their buying decisions.

The dollars and terms the likes of Clarkson and Tyler Bozak will command might even make you forget about Ville Leino – for a while anyway.

Continued