i don't know where you get 'all signs of him staying south" but that's fine. I'm just saying I hope Benning looks at him as a second option if this deal with OEL doesn't go through. Doesn't mean he'll choose us, but at least we should try.
He'll command north of 8 million but with some recent (disappointing) long-term contracts that have been offered, a lot of GM's will shy away from paying him that much since he'll likely only have 4-5 years of prime hockey left. Plus, the salary cap isn't going up so that'll be a factor as well.
This is all my opinion of course. We'll see what happens.