Now, with the trade deadline approaching on Wednesday, some GMs think there may be a number of those deals made, which amount to one team leasing its spare cap room to another for a price. A rebuilding team with room to spare under the salary cap and no plans to spend a lot of money on free agents this summer will offer to take an expensive contract off another team's hands, which will allow that other team to pursue a player who can help in the playoff drive. In return, the rebuilding team will receive a premium like a first-round draft pick along with the (usually) underachieving, overpaid player, who will serve out his contract and depart as a free agent.
The only catch is that these teams are not willing to take any contracts beyond next season. By the 2010-11 season, thanks to the collapsing economy, the salary cap is expected to drop by as much as $6-million (all currency U.S.) from the current $56.7-million and no GM wants to be caught holding a big contract tied to a bad player.
A couple of NHL sources say Toronto Maple Leafs president and GM Brian Burke has already made this kind of pitch to half a dozen teams, including the Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning. His rental fee is said to be a first-round pick. The responses are said to range from let me think about it, to drop dead.
