Trade and Buyout

			2009-2010 NHL Statistics				2011 Cap Info
To Edmonton	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Jim Vandermeer	Defense	30	62	4	8	12	1	$2.3 million
--------------
To Phoenix	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Years	Cap Hit
Patrick O'Sullivan	Forward	25	73	11	23	34	1	$2.925 million

Already a pair of active teams in this off-season, both the Edmonton Oilers and the Phoenix Coyotes take it up a notch with this last minute trade to deal with a couple of their buyout-able players that neither team had a use for anymore, but it gets a little more complicated than that.

Edmonton decided that they wanted to take Jim Vandermeer off the Coyotes' hands, since they didn't want him, while Phoenix didn't really want to have the greater sum of Vandermeer's buyout, so they were okay with taking on Patrick O'Sullivan, who cleared waivers today, and then buying him out for a lesser sum in the 2012 season.

BUYOUT FROM CAPGEEK.COM   PATRICK O'SULLIVAN   JIM VANDERMEER

2010-2011:                $935,417             $766,667

2011-2012:                $397,917             $766,667

In essence, they both traded away players that they didn't want and were ready to get rid of against the cap in exchange for a bit of a sacrifice. The Oilers were okay with the salary cap hit that Vandermeer has as a whole, so they could have a bit more physical play on their blueline and another veteran, while the Coyotes work a little bit of cap space magic, sacrificing a bit more now to have a fair chunk more later.

At the end of the wordy transaction, Vandermeer is now an Oilers blueliner and O'Sullivan is now an unrestricted free agent.  How do you like them apples?