Carter would decline unless he was guaranteed a buyout, which I don't think you envisioned. Can't really speak to the Martinez trade, but in Phaneuf's case, just send him back to Ottawa for a buyout, which will help them reach the cap floor.

Devils would need a pretty nice sweetener for Phaneuf. Essentially, LA would need to pay NJ pretty nicely to take him

Carter has no power to decline a trade as he has does not currently have a NTC or NMC. He could however flat our retire if he wanted to.

I believe that is what reports had said he told the Kings last off-season and at the TDL. He wants to stay in California.

He can not go back to Ottawa because they retained his salary, it's a rule in the nhl handbook.

From what I've heard there were a few teams he was willing to go to, but nothing ever materialized trade wise.

Not true. He's not allowed to go back to Ottawa within a year of the trade with the salary retention. It has been longer than a year, so he is eligible to be traded to Ottawa.

He never said this. The only thing Carter has ever said about a potential trade is that he likes it in LA and wants to stay.

Everyone is taking Bob McKenzie's speculative report out of context. He had said that based on the front-loaded nature of Carter's contract, and the fact that it was signed prior to the current CBA, he essentially has veto power on any trade, despite not having official no-trade protection. If he gets traded to a destination that he really doesn't want to go to, he could potentially retire and the Kings would get stuck with 3 years of recapture penalties.

At no time did McKenzie ever say that Carter's camp said this or was even thinking about doing this. He just said that the nature of his contract was interesting and that he could consider doing this, should he so choose.

People really need to stop misconstruing that to "Carter said he'll retire if he gets traded."