Buying out palat is not happening.
I'd rather retain 50% AND attach a 2nd round pick to dump before I buy him out.
You eat:
3.5 mill, 2.5 mill. 1.5 mill, 1.5 mill= 9 mill total. AND you have to replace him for 2 years.
If your palat replacement costs 1.5 million dollars a year (which is going to be legit 4th line fringe guys), you haven't saved any money.
If you want to ignore the 2 years after he's gone, you're still looking at only 3 mill a year to replace him with in an offseason where UFAs are going to be overpriced as f***.
If you want him gone that badly, pay to dump him and rid yourself of the ENTIRE cap hit.