Melvin
21/12/05
They can trade the bonus.
They have the cap space to take the cash/hit this year.
I presented a scenario a couple of weeks ago that should work:
Canucks trade Halak + asset to Arizona for futures
Arizona pays the bonus
Arizona trades Halak to a team that wants goalie depth for an asset
Arizona would get 2 assets for 1.5 in cash/cap space this season.
Now, Halak's poor play has certainly complicated things. The Canucks may need to give up a bigger asset and the final team may not need to give up much. But, same logic still applies.
Bonuses are paid after the season concludes. I don't think Arizona could just pay it early in order to pre-empt another team from having to pay it after the season.