Still can't believe you managed to fit all that in the Cap and still have some money left over to sign C.P. next year!

Bergevin has to start doing this too!!!

Fat chance of Simon Despres ever playing again, Not only does he have a severe concussion but other health issues as well. He's as good as retired right now.

Good lord, every Canadiens post prior to the expansion was assuming that Plekanec would be snapped up by Vegas and now that didn't happen it's turned to assuming that Arizona (or any team) would take him off your hands for nothing in return...

Arizona need to add $3.5m to reach the cap floor and still have to add / re-sign about 5 forwards and a defenseman. They don't need an overpaid, old, past it, player that they have to give any kind of asset for - notice that to move Bickell the Hawks had to also give up Teravainen. You add cap dumps with sweeteners to a make a deal. What's the point in this for Arizona? It's just better to have a 4th round pick in next years draft. The same is true for all the clubs below the cap floor this year, they all have players to re-sign still and are fairly close to the number already.

Consider that the Coyotes made some decent acquisitions and may be hoping to get somewhere this season. Plekanec can be an asset.
If the plan doesn't work and they seem to be out of the playoffs, Plekanec can be flipped for a pick at the deadline.
They may even get a 2nd if they retain salary for a team at the limit, but a 3rd is at least likely.
(Pick could be conditional as well. If they move him at the deadline, Montreal gets their pick one round later than Arizona traded him for. Or something.)

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I like it overall. Center is questionable but probably better than our current options of nobody. The wings are stacked.
Despres is an issue. Postma for 3rd pair RHD perhaps?

For the left, I'd like to bring Barberio back and we also have Jerabek that MB brought over and signed.
Failing that, look for another puck moving 3rd pairing guy or pay the pick price for a potential Weber partner.

It's just not happening. No team is going to just give up assets to acquire Plekanec. He's 34 and managed 28 points last season. If Montreal put a sweetener into the deal (like a prospect, retained salary, higher picks), then maybe. But if he has value why does he need to be moved. Answer is: because he's a cap dump who can't perform at the level needed. Arizona have made aggressive trades to get better, the time for them taking bad contracts FOR assets has passed. Even Vegas didn't want him for free! That's how they viewed the return they'd be able to get for him vs a defender they're trying to shop right now.

Even in your example the trade only really works for Arizona if a) he has a rejuvenated season at basically 35 years old or b) they get a 3rd round pick for him (with retained salary) at deadline which represents switching a 4th to a 3rd for taking $6m off the Canadiens cap. That's not a reasonable deal. If it was something like a 2nd round pick and Plekanec for a 4th round maybe it'd have more rationale to it for a team but even then probably only just.

You're placing too much emphasis on his declining production. Any team acquiring Plekanec at this point would not be doing it for the points he puts up.
He is still a good defensive center, 26th in GA/60 at 5v5 last season (over 500 minutes). His production declining only means he is no longer worth $6M/year, not that he isn't an asset. If you have the space to include a $6M center on your 3rd or even 4th line, he makes your team better. He takes hard minutes against the oppositions best players and frees up the guys who can still put the puck in the net.

Arizona (or the team taking Plekanec) would not be doing us a favor, they would be attempting to help themselves. We can also keep Plekanec for the same reasons, but sometimes you have to move money out in order to make your team better in other areas and go with a less expensive replacement.