Quoting: Windjammer
No chance CBJ retains of they are giving up that much or takes Huberdeau without retention. That's a pretty awful contract to take on without retention.
CBJ needs to concentrate on rebuilding with youth not adding another bad contract to Gaudreau.
Just have to say, nobody in their right mind would retain anything on that cap hit unless they are tear-down rebuilding and will have $10-20m in cap space at most times, and even then, it would only be around $1m max that I would do, just because it is that long a contract, and it would have to be a really sweet deal to make it worth holding even any dead cap at all 7 years later. Also, if someone is trading for Huberdeau, it isn't as a favor to Calgary, but because they think he'll be worth it.
That said, I think you're right, the Jackets should not want anything to do with him. Stay younger, and build it right. If they build it right and actually start becoming a winning team, that's when they'll fill the building and gain some emotional support from fans. Even in Calgary, during the "young guns era" of the late 90's, the building wasn't full, and you could find a ticket to any game you wanted. Suddenly after 2004, it was a run of sell-outs.
I'd hate to see the Jackets rush too quickly, muck it up, and end up having to start all over again in 5 years. Just do it right, even if it takes a bit longer. As Gordon Ramsay would say, a customer would rather wait for good food than get bad food quickly (paraphrase).