Quoting: mk458
In this scenario the Oiler are paying a 1st and a good young player to only save an additional 650k next year, 1.15 million the next, and 1.3 million the next. In my opinion, not a single team values that much savings at the cost of a 1st and a young player, even the teams that are contending
It's only really the 1st for Campbell. Perhaps I should have left out the Kovacevic/Lavoie swap, but I see that as added value for Edmonton with his low cap hit and Lavoie not being a contributor for them.
The going rate for a $5-6M cap dump is a 1st. There may be a team willing to do it for less with it being spread out, but they would have to be closer to the beginning of a rebuild than Montreal.
Everyone wants to maximize their cap space during their contention window, so you ideally don't want any dead cap haunting you through those years.
Each $1 saved on the cap is worth ~$4 at the deadline, so the difference between a buyout at 100/50% next season is $650k/$2.6M, or an extra $1.95M for deadline moves.
Converseley, the team sharing that cap penalty (Montreal) would have $1.95M less at the deadline.
For a team that doesn't project to be a buyer (Montreal) there's less of an impact, but for a team that intends to add and compete every year that impact can be significant.
It's fair to debate whether that is worth it. I'm only saying not to dismiss the significance of the idea because it doesn't look particularly beneficial at a glance.
There's more to consider than what might be immediately apparent. It's not simply paying a 1st to save a minimal amount of money.