yeah, rather thought he had a good chance to land a starting gig somewhere
That's what I thought. Arizona? Canucks? Isles? Buffalo? But we don't know what a guy really thinks. Maybe two years doesn't hurt his career long term. And maybe having that guarantee money is important to him.
When I see posts on players signings or whether a player waives his NTC, we often don't take into consideration the individual (and we certainly don't know the what goes on in his head). Heck inner own place of work we know people that don't take promotions or transfers or moves to over cities that might improve their careers. Every one has reasons.