Quoting: leafs101
that's fair. But his full NTC turns into 10 team after this year, might be willing to waive now to get a move over with if it seems inevitable. My thought with ANA is that they could use the Lindholm replacement for cheap, and Muzzin might waive because he lived in LA for so long which is very close to Anaheim. Might be willing to go back there where him and his family would be very familiar.
This isn't me trying to be a d1ck (it's sometimes hard to tell with people on here...), but I think you've gotta step back and think "How big of a stretch do I have to make on a point to convince myself that he'd waive to go anywhere, let alone a lotto team?".
Muzzin is from Ontario-He grew up in Ontario. He played Jr. in Ontario. I'm not an expert on his friends and family, but I'd have to imagine the likelihood is pretty high that waiving to go to Anaheim would actually move him *away* from his friends and family, as well as away from an area that I'd assume he's extremely familiar with.
And I get it-Muzzin being traded out is a super convenient way to dump a $5.65 cap hit off the books allow you to sign a goalie and keep Gio/Boosh, but the justification just doesn't make sense. Do they trade him when the full NTC changes? Who knows.
Flip to Anaheim's perspective here for a second too-2 years of Muzzin doesn't fit the timeline. If they really think they need a veteran dman to come in (They've already got Fowler and Shatty, as well as a number of other veterans in the lineup, so I'm not really sure why you'd take time away from the younger dman LD's like Vaak/Benoit/Mahura/potentially Zellweger the following year/potentially whoever they get in the draft/etc.), then you sign a free agent that better fits the timeline. Or, alternatively, you continue to pick up a dump here and there with a pick attached.