Are you implying that Armstrong didn't have a plan in place for what he was going to do with Bouwmeester on February 10, the night before Bouwmeester collapsed on the bench? Because if you are, I'm calling bullshit. Armstrong had intentionally traded for and then extended Faulk, and then intentionally traded Schenn. He'd extended Bouwmeester for a single year in April, 2019 but hadn't extended Bouwmeester in February, 2020. He didn't do any of that and not have a plan.
Do we know the details of it? Obviously no, but I find it difficult to believe that Armstrong didn't have a plan for what he was going to do with Bouwmeester. And, I find it difficult to believe that he had a plan for Bouwmeester, JBo goes down, and he has to scrap that plan and resort to "I have to go get a guy who's kind of clearly not as good, then fork out 4 years, $13.1 million for him while the world is shut down and I have no clue when we're going to get back to playing hockey and what the cap is going to look like, because I need a future replacement for JBo and I need that now." Cause, if that's all the planning he'd done to prepare for when JBo wasn't going to be on this roster, ... oof.
Yes, trading what amounted to peanuts for Faulk was only done as a plan to replace Jbo and obviously NOT Pietrangelo, the other RHD that Armstrong probably knew was going to walk in FA that coming summer.
As far as Jay only getting one year deals, let me introduce you to the 35+ contract of the NHL at the time.
WHAT HAPPENS IF A PLAYER
ON A 35+ CONTRACT RETIRES?
If a player who is not on a 35+ contract retires, then his cap hit disappears. Previously, if any player on a multiyear 35+ contract retired, his cap hit remained. The 2020 changes to the CBA added conditions to the rule. Now, if a player who is on a 35+ contract retires, his cap hit will only remain in full if it is a multiyear deal, and:
1. The contract has signing bonuses beyond the first year, OR
2. The salary is front-loaded in the year-to-year breakdown
The cap hit also cannot be reduced via a buyout, and if a player on a 35+ contract is assigned to the minors beyond the first year of the contract it would only reduce his cap hit by $100,000.
Kind of makes perfect sense why he would go year to year on a 35+ contract. Now that doesn't matter so much.