Buyout periods are possible only at summer.
Mutual terminations can happen during a season.
These vets maybe don't have on-ice value, but it's always important if they deliver their knowledge to our next wave kids. If Ericsson goes to Griffins, he can mentor a guy like Seider on daily basis, what is it be big net-front defenceman in NHL. etc.
That's what I meant in regards to buyouts.
Realistically, the Red Wings could approach Ericsson and say "Look, we really don't have a place for you on the NHL or AHL roster, so if you'd like, you can go home and just collect the rest of the $1.4XXM left on your deal (and as a bonus, free of Escrow)". But if Ericsson doesn't want to do that, they'd have to let him report to the Griffins and probably get into their vet rotation. If they tried to block him from going, the NHLPA would probably involved like they did when the Rangers buried Gomez and told him to stay home in order to preserve him for a compliance buyout.
As far as the mutual part, I was referring to a situation like Backes is currently in where he cleared waivers and got demoted, but he and the Bruins mutually decided it was best if he didn't report to the PBruins.
IIRC, it was also the same thing with Quincey in Minnesota where they waived and demoted him after he refused to play his off side like they thought he would when he signed, so they said he can either report to Iowa or go home and still get paid, so he chose to go home.
IMO, Ericsson will have more value to the team if he's on the NHL roster after the deadline (assuming Daley and/or Green are traded). If they get down to 6 D on the roster, given that he has recurring hip/knee/back/face/concussion/etc. issues, Ericsson is probably going to get banged up again at some point, or they can give him a night off here and there and tell the league he's questionable. Both situations would allow the team to recall D from GR under emergency without burning one of their regular call ups, which would allow them to get a look at multiple guys.
From a mentor stand point, whether in Detroit or GR, Ericsson should be around as many young guys as possible and deserves some kind of coaching/development/counseling role after he decides to retire. Every young guy should learn to emulate the attitude and work ethic Ericsson has had this season and likely the last few. Here's a guy that's been absolutely shit on by his teams fan base for almost a decade. Something I'm sure he and his family are well aware of. Over the last calendar year, there's been multiple opportunities for him to say F it, tell the team he can't do it anymore, hang them up and collect the rest of his contract from LTIR. Instead, he's kept his head up and has tried to the best of his ability to stay on and contribute to the team however he can. I mean the dude apparently woke up super early and COMMUTED from Detroit to GR for games and practices when he got sent down so he could get in as much time as possible with his family and still try to get back to the NHL team. When he was sent down, there apparently wasn't even a plan for if/when he would get called back up. If he really wanted to, he could've mailed it in down in GR to stay there so he could collect the rest of his contract free of Escrow and put a extra few hundred thousand dollars in his bank account. But instead he played well and found his way back to the NHL, where a couple of accidental sticks to the face added even more to his rough year and yet he's still trying to stick around.
