Everyone says no, there has to be some smaller picks to make this worthwhile, otherwise there's no point from the teams perspectives.

I would assume that Vancouver doesn't want Armia's contract. let alone trade for it

why ?
Washington get a top 6 player
vancuver save on cap
montreal get out of term

Canucks pass.IMHO.

What is the incentive for Vancouver in this? Heck, I'm not even sure the incentive for Montréal is that great

Middle - 6 (they also save a bit of cap).

Vancouver also saves on term.

I think all 3 of those points can be valid and many if not all teams decline all the same. Simply saving cap is not enough. the amount has to justify the loss of player.

-Washington gets the player they'd probably want but I think many agree the cost doesn't justify it. They'd need to add to Mantha to Get Garland. I get Van wants to move on from Garland but Armia is a much worse player.
-Vancouver saves some cap but significantly drops in player value as a result. Is 1.5M in saving this year and next, really worth it. 3 years from now when Armia's contract is done, will 4.9M be that needed?
-MTL gets the more expensive player for one year at the cost of the cheaper player for 2 years but my rule is if both players were equal in talent and ability, then the more expensive player would need to be double what the cheaper player would cost. That difference means the Habs would have to add IMO.

So I think for this 3 way to work, draft picks are needed to compensate. Vancouver should be receiving a pick for losing the best player and for taking back the worst player IMHO. Maybe like a 3rd from MTL and a 2nd from Washington.

i cant see montreal paying to trade armia

caps accept and probably pay up to a 3rd for some variation of swapping mantha with garland in any way that makes the cap doable for them

Canucks decline. They aren't downgrading from Garland to Armia. The cap savings are far outweighed by the fact that Garland is a much better player than Armia.

I agree.
Vancouver has too many wingers.
Vancouver is looking for a RH defenseman.