Is the restricted free-agent offer sheet becoming extinct?

Josh Harding is the 25-year-old restricted free-agent goalie for the Minnesota Wild; the one with the sterling minor-league and Lemaire-affected NHL numbers who's stuck behind Niklas Backstrom and his new four-year extension on the depth chart. Oh, but it gets even better for Harding: The team signed Wade Dubielewicz as a potential replacement and has a team-elected arbitration hearing with Harding later this month. Even assuming a trade from the Wild, consider that the goaltending jobs have dwindled to backup spots and three-headed monsters around the NHL. Heck, even the Islanders have three starters now. It wasn't necessarily supposed to be like this: Harding was supposed be one of the better, affordable RFA options available for a potential offer sheet. Consider he made $750,000 last season and Craig Anderson, a comparable backup-to-starting goalie, signed a two-year deal with the Colorado Avalanche with a cap hit of $1.812 million. In April, Tyler Dellow made a logical c...