from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

Thankfully, there is a way that it could happen and the best way to illustrate it is in the context of the Toronto Maple Leafs interest in Kiprusoff’s services (although the St. Louis Blues better be in their bidding for him as well, given goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s uncertain health status).

The Leafs, who have permission to speak to Kiprusoff’s camp, could offer him a choice of two options if he were to accept a trade to Toronto and played well for them for the remainder of the season. In exchange for that the Leafs could promise to either a) buy him out at that point, if that’s what he wanted; or b) extend his contract and pad the deal with a big signing bonus.

Either way, Kiprusoff wins. If he accepted the Leafs’ buyout, he could then go on to play wherever he wants – for any of the other 29 teams in the NHL, in Russia, back home in Finland, or some small village in the Swiss Alps. The only team he couldn’t sign with would be Toronto.

If Kiprusoff played well and happened to like it with the Leafs, they could go the other way – sign him to a new deal and make it worth his while financially by paying him a lot of cash up front in the extension.

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