Something to note is that ANA would have to be cap-compliant to start the season before they could LTIR Eaves and Kesler. The best-case scenario would be having Steel starting in the AHL (paper transaction) and not signing one of Skinner or Myers in order to fit Kesler's hit before shelving him. It's unlikely that either of those two would wait until late September / early October to sign those deals, and there isn't a way for the Ducks to squeeze in with a 20-man roster to make it work either.

If Skinner isn't likely to come to Anaheim, that's the guy you don't sign, and then you find a different body to scratch.

That makes sense. I had suggested a buy out of Kesler previously for that exact reason. ANA has an internal cap as well that makes this tricky for signings anyways. There could be some additional logistics with eaves being sent down and buried but at the end of the day, Skinner is definitely going to be the odd man out.

I'd still take the upgrade of Myers and the cap space to add a guy later on if needed.

You can place people on LTIR during the offseason provided a doctor supports the fact that player will miss the 10 games / 24 days to start the season ie Horton,Zetterberg,Clarkson etc

Everything I'm reading article-wise from the past summer is suggesting that teams have to be cap-compliant by the start of the season without LTIR. The only exception is the 10% they can exceed the cap by over the summer or if the LTIR is retroactive to the previous season (Horton, Clarkson). That's why the Zetterberg thing was an issue for Detroit this summer. I don't know if Kesler or Eaves would meet that condition.

If I'm wrong, any literature on the subject is appreciated!

Got to the LTIR faq on here. https://www.capfriendly.com/ltir-faq
Thats where I got it. 6th section down.

Then based on the extent of Kesler's hip surgery, it appears to me that he wouldn't be eligible for that waiver. If he opts to have his hip resurfaced (again), he's looking at a 4-5 month recovery window. Considering he was shut down in March, would the league look at Kesler delaying the surgery in such a manner that he was unable to return until after say October 27th (using this year's start date, a 5 month recovery, and assuming the 24 day window is longer than the 10 game window) as cap circumvention? To me it makes sense that if a player needs to go under the knife and needs a certain period to recover, that both the player and his team have a responsibility to make sure it doesn't happen in a manner that it would invoke the use of summertime LTIR. Otherwise, why doesn't every team opt to do this?

Thus, the only way I could see Kesler being eligible for early LTIR would be if he has career-ending surgery. In this situation, would there be a recapture penalty on his cap hit if he was forced into retirement? The only reason Zetterberg isn't in the same situation is because he hasn't opted for surgery to resolve his back condition or formally retired. I'm not aware of the extent regarding Kesler's hips (nor do I want to be thinking about Kesler's hips beyond the scope of this thread); do they absolutely require surgery for him to lead a normal life, or can he get by as is until his contract expires?

I'm absolutely fascinated by this situation, as if everything is currently working the way I understand it, the Ducks just got out from under his deal until it expires without any penalty whatsoever. The only stipulation is they can't exceed the current salary cap by 10% each summer. I can't imagine things remain this way under a new CBA.

It's going to be an interesting precedent for this kind of injury as well as for the ducks. I'm actually really curious how Simon Despres situation played out on the books. On paper it looks like he was bought out makes no money from that buyout. He was unable to keep playing and was constantly affected by Concussions and Concussion Symptoms. Is there an alternative between LTIR and Buyout?

Kesler said he has a hard time even putting socks on in the morning. From Murray's last discussion about Kesler, this situation is threatening to impact his life beyond hockey:

“I’m concerned with his quality of life going forward,” Murray said. “I’m not worried about hockey whatsoever right now. Can we all understand that? I’m concerned with his quality of life. … We’ve got to get him to get control of everything he’s doing in order to play."

I think really there are only a few options here.
A) He tries to do physical therapy and conditioning and tries to see where his body is going to improve and where it wont.
B) He has an additional surgery now and hopes that this one is more successful than the last. This may still allow him to wiggle through LTIR without being counted.
C) He opts for retirement and starts to invest in recovery.

C makes the most sense at this point. He is never going to play the same hockey again. He's going to be bottom 6 playing sheltered minutes and maybe see some time on the PK. He's never going to be worth his contract and being in IR limbo isn't worth it.