paying to unload and retaining doesnt make sense

gonna cost more to unload that nuclear boat anchor

It's not too far off but it take more retention or replacing the 4th with a late 1st to get it done.

People think of a "cap dump" as a player with a high cap hit who's no longer worth that amount. That's incorrect . . . or, at least, incomplete. The definition of a "cap dump" is a player who is no longer worth his cap hit which is a burden to his team because it brings them too close to the cap ceiling. You have $20 million in cap space here and plenty of open roster slots, so Anderson isn't a burden that way, either. I think that it's foolish to expend resources getting rid of a contract which may be a visual annoyance but is little more. Even buying him out is preferable to this, no matter what the cost is.

I've had this discussion previously with Habs fans who say But we need the cap space that would be taken up by Anderson's buyout down the line 2, 3, 4 seasons from now to re-sign x, y or z. I think you can afford to wait to cross that bridge when, and if, you get there.

a man with logic, not too many of them around here.

That offer isn't horrible with the retention, but why would Montreal do this with over $20m in available cap space? Even if the Habs target a $10m a year free agent, they still have cap space for Anderson.

I disagree. But to each their own. That isn't enough to move Anderson's contract and MTL doesn't really have a need to pay what it would take.