Edited Jun. 3, 2019 at 10:55 a.m.
Hawks Fan coming in peace...
The reason the organization was so desperate to dump Hossa to Arizona in the first place was due to the stipulations of LTIR. In order to make deadline deals with extra cap space, the Blackhawks had to be salary cap compliant (including Hossa's contract) by the first day of the season. From there, they could place him on LTIR and have 5.275 million in cap space for in-season moves and acquisitions.
The alternative is to be exactly over the cap by his deal at the start of the season. From there, he could be placed on LTIR, but the Hawks would have perpetually been at the cap ceiling all year.
The organization dealt with Hossa on LTIR for one season after his allergy and it really handcuffed the moves they could make in the 2017-2018 season.
Taking on Hossa's contract with Horton will be different for the Leafs this year, as they will be at the cap for the first time in a while with actual players they are icing.
I wouldn't be so quick to bank on LTIR as a "magic potion"