heshootshescores said:
The "one-time no salary cap hit" buyout period will come before trades are allowed to occur. So this scenario is moot.
Do you know that for sure ??
It doesn't really make sense that way though IMO.
The NHL Owners would rather see the player traded then to receive a big cash settlement in hand for doing nothing and then be sent on his way.
You might see a meeting in the middle of your and my suggestion in that, once traded then the new team would take the cap hit to buy out a player. However there will be teams that struggle to keep above the floor next near .. So even if the Cap hit takes place its still really a non issue ..
The NHL old CBA used to have a similar type trade and reward package for entry draft compensation picks.. Teams would trade soon to be UFA to smaller market that didn't intend to go UFA shopping and then once the player became an UFA and signed elsewhere the team got a compensation draft pick awarded in the draft .. Toronto traded Cujo to Calgary before July 1st and then Cujo joined the Wings as a UFA and Calgary got a draft pick for the loss ..
My suggestion is a spin on that concept with in this case the trading team needs to also provide the buying team compensation ..
The NHL system still works as the team that traded the player would need to also send along the buyout money to the other team .. Which means that portion counts against their cap in fact if the Jagr ruling applies to all .. So if the player was to return his former team it would not really help much in fact as new salary plus cash sent in deal is likely fairly close to old contract. You might only have a advantage if you didn't have to send along the money or received a contract in return to offset the buyout..