'To me, they could have gotten a deal done with Drury during the course of the season. I know he was open to it. Given what he's accomplished in the league and with Buffalo, I think most of the players in the room would understand the team's desire to get him signed sooner rather than later. In fact, I think SOME players would even view that as a positive sign that the team was serious about winning. The player I could see having a problem with it is Briere – the other big UFA, but again, he was playing for a contract as well, so motivation shouldn't have been a problem.'