Quoting: Rangsey
Valid but Karlsson, Doughty Pietro were signed a long time ago.
Deals for Makar and Fox would have lowered the Dahlin deal. Now this one comes along and regard of UFA/RFA status LHD in the NHL can expect to get paid more than they would have yesterday.
Makar signed coming right off his ELC. He has 4 RFA years in the deal, Dahlin only has 1. Had Makar signed a bridge like Dahlin, and played out his remaining RFA years, he also would be in the 10-12 million range.
Fox also didn't bridge. His deal has 4 RFA years in it.
That is why they aren't entirely comparable. Dahlin's contract was basically a UFA contract since it only had 1 (arb) RFA year in it.
Werenski, Jones, McAvoy, Nurse, etc - those players are all north of 9M and at a similar age bracket to Dahlin. They all signed for north of 9 on contracts that either entirely or almost entirely buy up UFA years. The Dahlin deal makes sense in the context of those deals.
The Sanderson deal does nothing to push forward or change how young defensemen are dealt with. If a player is a top pairing defenseman on their ELC, and they sign 7-8 years, they get 10-11 percent of the cap. Sanderson is considered to be a blue chip defense prospect who was just the best defender on his team as a rookie, and played top pairing minutes with difficult assignments. The only thing that is peculiar about this contract is Sanderson getting it after 1 season instead of 2, but that is not enough to dictate that it has somehow reset or changed the market.
If Buffalo is negotiating with Owen Power, it's not like they were about to sign him for 7.5 x 8 and now they are going, WAIT A MINUTE SANDERSON GOT 8...and then someone butts in and goes "Excuse me sir, it was actually 8.05!" - They likely already know that Power is going to get anywhere from 8.2M-9.2M (on 7-8 years), because that is what all the historical comparisons would put him at, and Sanderson's contract did nothing to alter those comparisons. Power is seen as the better player, and was seen as the more coveted prospect, so he's already lined up to get more.