nobody was able to answer my question, but would it not be a good idea for the Leafs to plan on being a cap team during their rebuild? Do you not think a team could get a decent return by taking on bad contracts for prospects?
Most other bad teams want to keep the payroll near the floor because they aren't going to have big revenues during the rebuild. Leafs don't have the problem. I'd have to think there would be a laundry list of teams that would jump at the chance to sell a bad contract at the costs of a prospect or pick (then spend that money on someone else)
Same thing with Kessel, Phaneuf, Clarkson if you can keep some of the cap hit when you trade a player (why I asked the original question). They would command a much bigger return if they didn't come with the same cap hit.