Let's just take stock again of what Dale Tallon did over the last few weeks:
| Cap Hit | Salary | Term | |
| Tomas Fleischmann | 4.5 | 4.5 | UFA 2015 |
| Scottie Upshall | 3.5 | 3.5 | UFA 2015 |
| Tomas Kopecky | 3 | 3 | UFA 2015 |
| Sean Bergenheim | 2.75 | 2.75 | UFA 2015 |
| Marcel Goc | 1.7 | 1.7 | UFA 2014 |
| Brian Campbell | 7.14 | 7.14 | UFA 2016 |
| Ed Jovanovski | 4.125 | 4.125 | UFA 2015 |
| 26.715 | 26.715 | 28 seasons | |
| Total | 112.3 |
That's a big long-term financial commitment to declining players; it's a substantial overpay for basically every player on the list; and it still leaves Florida five wins shy of a playoff spot. If you were going to acquire players willy-nilly to get to the salary floor, why wouldn't you adopt a different strategy? Why not do shorter deals for slightly bigger bucks to keep the balance sheet a little cleaner? Or...Gasp! Why not look around for a way to circumvent the salary cap rules and save yourself a little money at the same time? There are more than a handful of over-30 players out there with cap hits that exceed their salaries:
| Cap Hit | Salary | Term | |
| Jason Blake | 4 | 3 | UFA 2012 |
| Daniel Briere | 6.5 | 4.75 | UFA 2015 |
| Ryan Malone | 4.5 | 3.375 | UFA 2015 |
| Michal Rozsival | 5 | 3 | UFA 2012 |
| Mike Komisarek | 4.5 | 4.167 | UFA 2014 |
| Ron Hainsey | 4.5 | 4 | UFA 2013 |
| 29 | 22.292 | 15 seasons | |
| Total | 59 |
Am I dreaming, or wouldn't all of these players be available for somewhere between very little and nothing? Don't other NHL GMs owe Dale Tallon big-time for all of the stupid trades he's made in the past? Maybe I just dislike Jason Blake? I think Toronto and Philly would love to have the cap space; Tampa would love to get another over-30 guy with an injury history off the books; and Anaheim, Phoenix and Winnipeg would love to get rid of salary and use it for something more useful.
These contracts are bigger pigs than the ones Florida actually signed ($4.5M per win vs $4.1M per win), so the Panthers might have even been able to pull in a draft pick here or there and the team wouldn't be any worse. But the key is that Florida's new owners - whoever they may be - would have $53M less long-term debt under this scenario than they do today. That Dale Tallon did what he did shows a complete and utter lack of imagination.