After sending Teddy Purcell to the Edmonton Oilers for Sam Gagner, Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman’s day wasn’t over.
He quickly flipped Gagner to the Arizona Coyotes, along with winger BJ Crombeen, for a 6th round pick in 2015.
That seems like a pittance for Gagner and Crombeen, but this is a pure salary dump move and Arizona has an internal cap to worry about. You’re not going to get full value for assets everyone knows you don’t actually want.
Futhermore:
FYI that Tampa Bay is retaining 1/3 of Gagner’s salary in trade to Arizona
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) June 30, 2014
This seems odd given the ‘salary dump’ appearance of today’s moves in general.
It’s only speculation, but one might think Yzerman would only agree to such a small return if he knew he could use the cap space remaining to sign an impactful free agent on July 1.
