Only buy him out if there's a genuine need for the cap space. Of course there's been a need on the team ever since Rafalski retired, but for various reasons Holland decided to let that issue fester in favor all those great FA signings we've had in the last few years. Unfortunately I have to assume the worst with Holland, so buying out Weiss would probably only enable Holland to go out and burn cap and roster space on another Weiss/Sammy/Tootoo/Colaiacovo/etc.
But if not buying out Weiss means trading for Phaneuf, then that's just moving from the frying pan and into the fire. Who knows why Holland can't instead organize a deal for another overpriced guy who has less downside risk (Semin? Bolland? there are quite a few actually); again, I have to assume the worst.
So more cap-space to go out and find another Weiss, or Phaneuf-- it's pick your poison with Holland these days.
Holland could start a new trend where teams just swap bad contracts every summer hoping maybe a change of scenery might spark one of them. If it doesn't work, they just keep getting a new address every summer until the deal is done.
You could also add guys like Andrew MacDonald, Richards, Lecavalier, Clarkson, Rene Bourque etc. to the list.
The NHL should find a way to allow bad deals like these to benefit teams that do manage the cap well.
I've always thought that for the sake of "parity", the NHL should institute a system where teams that don't spend up to the cap can benefit by "absorbing" average salary into their cap from a cap strained team, or a team looking to open up some space to make a signing or trade.
In a nut shell, a team like Ottawa that leaves open $10M in space can let a team in a cap crunch "store" a certain amount of AAV in there space. The team that is deferring the AAV to the low spending team is still on the hook for 100% of the amount. For the team taking the cap hit, they get a small monetary "fee" paid to them by the high spending team, and get to choose to receive a certain draft pick from that team in the next 2 drafts depending on the amount they "store". And the storage amount go in increments of $1M.
Like a 7th for $1M, 6th for $2M, 5th for $3M, 4th for $4M, 3rd for $5M, 2nd for $6M and a 1st for $7M, with $7M being the max that a team can store with one team. There could also be rules where teams can't "defer" more than a certain amount the next season if they "deferred" salary the season before.
Spendy teams would essentially be trading draft picks for some cap flexibility.
That way teams get an option other than buying out players or swapping bad contracts, and teams that know they won't be spending up to the cap can be rewarded with some extra draft picks at their disposal.
