Maybe, maybe not. That's assuming we would have done the very same roster additions/substractions had Subban signed said deal. Maybe Moen/Brière never get signed? Bergevin has always found a way to make capspace.
0% chance he would have made that much because there's no precedent now and there probably wouldn't be any precedent by the time his deal would have ended in 2018. I personally think Subban's agent used Shea Weber as a statistical comparable and a salary comparable. Weber's been a runner-up for the Norris without ever having won one, while having slightly superior stats to Subban. Shea Weber's caphit might be lower than Subban, but he still makes more than Subban. The only other potential comparable could be Hedman, whose deal expires in 2017. He'll be getting a big raise.
Doughty, Pietrangelo, Keith, Karlson, Letang... None of those guys would have been salary comparables for Subban, so I don't see how he would have been able to make "10-11 mil".
Nobody will ever know, but yes that is possible. Bergeron has a history of concussions, but besides that he hasn't had many injuries. Perry & Getzlaf I could see slowing down and Malkin might unless he's a fitness freak. It just takes one major injury to one of Subban's knees to make the current contract look awful.
Teams are often trapped and have to sign those players to longterm deals. If you trade one of those players, you never get equal value in return and if you're not the one giving out the longterm deal, some other team will have him. How many times does the team trading the one stud player away "win" the deal? Think Boston wouldn't like a mulligan or two on those Seguin/Thornton deals? Yeah, by the end of the deal he might not be nearly as good as he once was (See Chara), but if you're a contending team and you can add a major piece to possibly put you over the top...
