LA does this IMO
Pitt not so much

Holy run-on sentence Batman.

I think the Kings would consider trading for Johnson, but the prospect they get back would need to be expansion-draft exempt. A 2021 2nd and Legare would likely get the deal done.

You have to give up value to get rid of Johnson. A bottom 6 player and a 3rd does nothing for teams

wow you saved 250k and gave up a good player and a pick.

this is horrible. no retention. At all. That is the only way it makes sense for them to do anything other than buy jj out.

thank you for bringing common sense into this.

did you read the description in the trade... JJ's contract with retention is almost nothing

a 2nd+ Legare probably has slightly more value than a first... JJ with retention (as explained in the description of the trade) is no where near as bad as Marleau, I would be willing to move someone other than ZAR (which i also said in the trade description) but not that much... a 2nd and Judd Caulfield or Bellerive should work

ZAR isnt fantastic, and with the emergence of Lafferty he's easily replaceable, and i said the player/ pick could be changed out, and what we do save over a buyout (what I'm assuming you're talking about) is 3 years on the contract, and if you say we won't be competitive, both Letang and Geno have said (reportedly) that they'd like to sign 3 year deals after their current ones, and we'll still be paying guys like Hornqvist (for a year... assuming he somehow isn't LTIRed by then) and Tanev, and I doubt a team with Crosby will ever tank, no matter how much he declines, for the next 6 years we will attempt to compete

You still need value. That trade does nothing to help the kings besides a bottom 6 player and a 3rd. Theres a reason why Jack Johnson is available and nobody is trading for him. Teams are asking for valuable pieces back and the pens aren't willing to trade those pieces

A. I said the players can be swapped around a bit, and B. ZAR has some value, it's not like he's an AHL scrub, he's solid defensively, and can put up 30 points, and the third also isn't worthless... the goal was for something slightly worse than a 2nd with retention and only 3 yrs left his contract is not nearly as bad

I just dont get it from LA side. They could sign a ZAR player or someone better in free agency and a 3rd round pick isn't enticing enough to have JJ on the team

they can, doesn't mean they will, I was thinking the trade would be made at the start of next season, and it doesn't specifically have to be LAK, just any team that could use a decent YOUNG bottom 6 player, and probably one that is rebuilding

Solid deal. May have to give like a 2nd and/or slightly better player as you mentioned, but the idea is solid. Definitely won’t cost Hallander and a 1st like people foolishly seem to think.

I think the Kings would seriously consider a 2nd and Bellerive for JJ at $750k retention.

Lets just clear this up. Malkins next contract he will be 36 years old. Do you believe for one moment he's going to command top dollar at 36 years old?
If he comes back at 36 its at a discount looking to win another cup.
Furthermore I highly doubt with a 35+ contract they are signing with 3 years term. You can't buy it out or anything like that.
None of these guys on contracts expiring are coming back on big deals. none of them.
Not Malkin, Not Letang, and that's if they can even keep up still. Which is asking a lot.

Hornqvist has expansion draft written all over him. He won't be here after next season.
And while I don't believe ZAR is irreplaceable, he has shown a lot of life on this team, especially this year. He's clearly one of their better bottom 6 forwards currently. He's also a PK guy.

The real issue here is you are worried about carrying a less than 1 mil cap hit for 3 extra years as if they will be tight against the cap then with this current roster. And that's ridiculous.
They will have more than enough cap room when Malkin's and Letang's deals expires. The only way they are close to the cap is bringing in new faces. Even then you are looking at huge raises in the cap by then with the new TV deal, the expansion team, and other growing revenue. So the % of cap of that less than 1 million hit for the final 3 years of the buy out, will be smaller and smaller. Close to being less than 1% of the total cap.

It's not worth worrying about 3 years down the line. Especially when you are only saving 250k now.
The only way moving him works is if you can save the 1 million you would buy him out at now. That's it.
Otherwise it's just not worth it. Because saving 250k does not help this team now, and the future issues are really really small.

I'm not saying Malkin and Letang will get the same contracts their on, but they will want extensions, and they're not going to take Thornton contracts (yet) and with Crosby the pens will want to compete, making a big trade it signing a UFA... And plus in 6 years who knows we could be competitive without Crosby Malkin and Letang, guys like Lambert and Raty are amazing hockey players

You should use this site and look at how many players 35+ are in the league, and then ask yourself, how many of them are on an elite level high enough to will a team to a cup.

I'm not saying Crosby won't be a good player in 2 more seasons. Or that Malkin won't be able to play at 36.
What I'm saying is, they won't be the core reason this team goes to a cup then. And since they don't have high draft picks, and the odds of landing such free agents to actually make the difference is low. I wouldn't place your eggs in that basket.
Like I said. It's a very very small percentage of the cap you are talking about. And it's simply not worth doing it. If you are going to pay to move him out. The whole cap hit has to go.