Why would Meier ever sign that?

jack donaghy lol nice

Idk maybe for the same reason Kaprisov signed it

Kaprizov didn’t have a $10M QO.

Meier might sign a shorter deal to give him options while he is still young enough to capitalize on them so it’s not too far fetched, though I do see him options for 7/8 years personally.
if sharks do get Fantilli I would prefer he plays one more year in college and then come out for the 24/25 season. though i feel he will be every bit ready for 23/24 season.

why would he not?

His QO.

No one is offering him 10+ million, especially with how he's been playing

Well, San Jose kind of has to, or else he’s a UFA.

To be honest I'm not really sure how everything works and if they could do something like offer him 10 mil for 1 yr and retain his rfa rights for the next season, but if the only two options are signing him to a longer term deal where he's making 10+ mil or letting him walk, they'd much rather let him walk

Well the leverage Meier has here is that in order for a team to retain a players RFA rights, they have to give him a qualifying offer, which in this case is the same amount of money the player made on the last year of their contract. For Meier that’s $10M.

So, if I try to put myself in Meier’s shoes, or probably more accurately his agents shoes - and the Sharks come and offer 8x8 the following options are on the table (and keep in mind it sounds like the cap is set to go up drastically over the next few years):
1. Accept the deal, be locked in through the prime earning years, 26-33 at $8M. Certainly not terrible.
2. Reject the offer, get qualified, make $10M for one season, and hit the UFA market at 27 with the cap going up a whole bunch. Amazing position.
3. Reject the offer, don’t get qualified, and hit UFA at 26, with the cap potentially going up as much as $4.5M. Amazing position.

I think Meier would have to be REALLY happy in San Jose to forego the latter two opportunities.