Eastside's Hockey Elite Collide

I'm a bit confused on this. Ex: If I offer a player who's going to make $2.65M on a 1-3 year deal and if I want to sign said player for 5 years, then his cap hit is anywhere from $3M to $4.999.999M. How do I know how to offer a longer deal if the range is so wide?

At 2.65M, your options would be:
1 to 3 years at 2.65M
4 to 5 years at 3M
6 to 7 years at 5M