herman said:
Market price for a salary dump is kind of a bit high right now.
Recently:
Datsyuk (7M) for a mid-1st
Bickell (4M) + Teravainen for 2016-2nd + 2017-3rd
Usually a result of one team hard up against the cap, and the other team patiently waiting them into desperate submission. That Chi-Car deal is a huge overpayment in my opinion.
Bolland is pretty heavy in term too, so you have to sweeten the pot significantly to get any takers. I think Florida got off a bit easy though, only letting go of Crouse.
I'm just being nitpicky here, but the Datsyuk trade is not a good example. First of all, the trade was Datsyuk + Pick #16 for Pick #20, Pick #53, and Joe Vitale. It really didn't cost Detroit much as they still got a (slightly later) mid-round pick AND a 2nd round pick back. Take Datsyuk and Vitale out of the equation (cap dumps in both cases) and it looks like a regular trade up in the draft transaction.
And in comparison to Bickell and Bolland, Datsyuk counts against the cap but doesn't need to be paid ANYTHING since he's in breach of contract. It only costs some cap space, which Arizona is swimming in. WIth Bickell and BOlland, the team taking on the contract still has to pay the player (unless injured, at which point insurance will cover a good portion of the salary). Bolland may not play again this season, but he may recover enough to no longer be on LTIR for the following to seasons... at which point Arizona may need to buy him out or bury him in the minors.