Still trying to figure out why a team would give up anything for a soon to be UFA. If it is his preferred destination he will just meet with them during the FA period. If he wants to add leverage with multiple offers, he will simply wait until FA opens and he can field an offer to being back to them.
What possible benefit is there to the team trading for him?
- Chunk
It's not really a thing anymore, just wishful thinking from fans. It used to be that you could sign the player for 8 years by trading for their rights, that loophole got closed. You also used to see GM's trade conditional picks, to get contract numbers locked in before the draft and get exclusive negotiating time. That is also no longer allowed, as you can't make conditions on picks involve the player re-signing anymore.