by Spector

Staal, 23, was entering the final year of a contract paying him $5 million for the 2008-09 season — although it actually counts as $4.5 million against the Hurricanes salary cap — and was eligible to become a restricted free agent next July.

If he had remained unsigned by July 1, the Hurricanes' leading scorer in two of the past three seasons would have been a tempting target for an offer sheet from a rival club.

Rather than risk that possibility, general manager Jim Rutherford moved quickly to get Staal re-signed before the opening of training camp Sept. 19.

Rutherford claims he doesn't like to negotiate contracts during the season, but an additional incentive to re-sign Staal now was to avoid the possibility of having to pay more if he has a career season.

The Hurricanes are following a league-wide trend which began in the summer of 2007 of re-signing potential restricted and unrestricted free-agent stars well before they become eligible to entertain other offers.

Since July, the notable re-signing was Vincent Lecavalier — who was eligible for UFA status next summer — inking a staggering 11-year, $85 million deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The most recent such deal was the Florida Panthers re-upping defenseman Keith Ballard to a six-year extension believed worth over $4 million per season.

Notable potential UFA players next summer include Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer, Calgary's Mike Cammalleri, Chicago's Martin Havlat, Dallas' Sergei Zubov, Detroit's Marian Hossa and Henrik Zetterberg, Florida's Jay Bouwmeester, Minnesota's Marian Gaborik, Montreal's Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Mike Komisarek, New Jersey's John Madden and Brian Gionta, St. Louis' Keith Tkachuk and Vancouver's Sedin twins.

Next summer's crop of RFA players include Staal, his younger brother, Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal, Buffalo's Jason Pominville, Colorado's Paul Stastny, L.A.'s Anze Kopitar and Jack Johnson, Montreal's Tomas Plekanec and Chris Higgins, San Jose's Ryane Clowe, Boston's Phil Kessel, Atlanta's Tobias Enstrom, Minnesota's Josh Harding and Vancouver's Alexander Edler.

Given this recent trend, it wouldn't be surprising if most of the aforementioned were locked into deals over the course of the upcoming NHL season.

Some general managers will buck that trend, preferring not to negotiate with their players — particularly their restricted free agents — on the premise that it's a distraction, but it appears they're in the minority.

Most recall only too well what happened to the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks last summer when they failed to re-sign Thomas Vanek and Dustin Penner, respectively.

The Sabres were forced to match a multi-year, $7 million-per-season offer sheet from the Edmonton Oilers for Vanek, a sum far exceeding what they would've preferred to pay. The Oilers had more success with Penner, signing him away from the Ducks.

While there weren't any notable offer sheets made this summer — likely due to most of the best RFA players being re-signed — the threat remains very real, one which a general manager ignores at his peril.

The trend over the past year of re-signing key unrestricted free agents also impacted this summer's market.

With most of the best UFA players off the market well before July 1, the depth in available talent was shallow this summer, resulting in second-tier talent like Cristobal Huet, Mark Streit and Kristian Huselius and fading stars like Wade Redden and Markus Naslund landing contracts worth more than they would've received had the talent pool been deeper.

If this trend of re-signing top free agents before their eligibility date continues, expect more second-tier talent in the coming years to be paid far more than their worth.