I thought this thread was about Tryamkin.....but if people are still bent out of shape about Torts living in Point Roberts, they should also be calling out Mark Messier who lived south of Blaine while he played for the Canucks.
The reasoning is pretty simple for U.S. citizens or U.S. residents. If you spend only a limited number of days in Canada, you're subject to U.S. tax laws instead of Canadian, even if it's a Canadian NHL team paying your salary.
So I'm sure Torts and his accountant had it down to a matter of days, tallying up road-trips within Canada and the few hours he crossed the border for practices and games at Rogers Arena. And the tax savings on a big contract would be substantial.
But I doubt Tryamkin would ever take up residence in Point Roberts, Blaine or Birch Bay. A big Russian crossing the border every day would raise the paranoia meter for the border types.