GMs learned from the last expansion. Francis probably overplayed his hand. Give him credit for not grabbing the high priced players that weren't protected. He didn't take the bait... Yet

Still much of the Silly Season remaining.
- rrentz

I agree with you on all here, especially your words in "Francis probably overplayed his hand."
He surely did so prior to the Exp. Draft in wanting a haul from teams in exchange for him to not select a specific player that they couldn't protect.
He also stoned those teams looking to rid of a player with a high contract that they no longer wanted, or didn't fir in their plans any longer. That included the Rangers with Francis not selecting Tony D. for obvious league wide aware reasons; leaving the Rangers now to likely buy out his remaining contract; due to his own faults.