Just to be clear, the Ducks retain 1.5 so the difference between Liligren and Fowler cap would be 500k.Late to the party but Fowler is being paid more in real dolars than his AAV which may make an impact to some teams.
I could see a Fowler $1.5m retained for Timothy Liljegren trade being useful for both teams. Fowler was born in Ontario so might be interested and would be a significant upgrade for the Leafs, whilst the Ducks get a young guy with something to prove and would get a chance to do so. At present the Ducks only have Gudas as a RHD on the roster.
Rielly/Tanev
Fowler/McCabe
OEL/Benoit
Would be an improvement to now.
Why would the Ducks downgrade to save 500k when they have the most cap space in the league?
If they trade Fowler it should be because it will make the team better. Either by getting picks/prospects that will make them better in the long term, or get a better fit stylistically to play with Mintyukov and Zellweger on the right side.
Liljegren is neither.