In a salary-cap league, there is always going to be deep analysis of each team's cap situation and every contract.

Every dollar a team spends on one player or one position is a dollar they will not have for another player, position or need. Some contracts look like head-scratchers the minute pen gets put to paper, and they are viewed as unmovable or albatross deals that will forever sink a team's cap situation.

But there are always creative ways for teams to dump other undesirable contracts.

Sometimes it takes adding a sweetener to convince a team to take on that financial commitment. Other times it requires that, as well as retained salary or even a third team that can retain additional salary. Or it could be as simple as swapping two bad contracts. And sometimes it just requires another team that needs to commit dollars to reach the cap floor.

In other words, there is usually a way to make it work.

So, with that in mind, let's take a look at some of the NHL's worst contracts and see if we can come up with ways to maybe help some teams out.

It can even be a good thing for the players to get fresh starts elsewhere.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson to Buffalo

The Vancouver Canucks' decision to trade for Oliver Ekman-Larsson before the 2021-22 season was one of those deals that seemed like a bad idea at the time.

His contract was a huge investment for a team that already had salary-cap problems, and it showed once again that the Canucks were not as good or close to contention as the previous front office thought they were. Add in that Ekman-Larsson had probably already played his best hockey and had six years at $8.3 million annually remaining on his deal, and it seemed like a horrible fit.

Predictably, it has been.

Ekman-Larsson is still a fine player, but he can't carry a defense anymore, and especially not for a mediocre team such as Vancouver. His contract is brutal, and the Canucks need to dump it.

So, who might be a good fit?

How about the Buffalo Sabres?

Hear me out.

The Sabres have great players up front and can score with anybody. They are oozing with young talent at forward with Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn and Peyton Krebs leading the way. Even a veteran such as Jeff Skinner has rediscovered his game and become an impact player again.

The problem for the Sabres is they cannot stop anybody. They give up too much, and even though they have a definite core on defense (Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelsson) they could still use some help.

While Ekman-Larsson is not a franchise-changer, he can be productive in the right situation. He could also be a solid veteran presence for a very young defense.

The idea here: Vancouver sends Ekman-Larsson but retains a portion of his cap hit through the end of his contract (2026-27) for Victor Olofsson (contract expires after next season) and Casey Mittelstadt to make the salaries work, while some smaller pieces (draft picks, mid-level prospects) also get exchanged.

The Canucks dump his contract, while the Sabres, who still have a ton of salary-cap space to play with in future seasons, get a veteran defender who can help and might be a better value at a reduced cap hit.

Josh Bailey to Arizona

The Arizona Coyotes have become the NHL's dumping ground for bad contracts, and the New York Islanders have even utilized them once already by dealing Andrew Ladd and draft picks just for the purposes of getting rid of his contract.

They should explore that again with Josh Bailey.

Bailey has been a really good Islander for 15 years and has had big moments in recent playoff runs. While his contract is not terrible, it is an issue for New York in the short term.

He is not a $5 million-per-year player any longer, and the Islanders not only still need to upgrade their roster to compete in future seasons, but they also have a cap crunch coming in the offseason with Oliver Wahlstrom set for restricted free agency and Semyon Varlamov headed for unrestricted free agency.

Bailey's cap space could probably be better utilized, and I suspect the Islanders know that considering they left him unprotected last year in the expansion draft.

Bailey could be attractive to Arizona for two reasons, especially if the Islanders send a couple of draft picks in return for future considerations.

The first is that his $5 million cap hit would help them reach the salary floor (which has seemingly been a struggle in recent years), while the amount of money he is owed is less than that. He will earn $3.5 million next season.

There is also the possibility that by getting top-line ice time and top power-play time, Bailey might be able to rebound offensively and perhaps boost his trade value. That could be beneficial for the rebuilding Coyotes, who can also acquire an asset from the Islanders for taking Bailey's contract and then another from a team that might acquire Bailey at next year's trade deadline.

That is the scenario that is playing out with Arizona and Shayne Gostisbehere. It took a couple of draft picks from the Philadelphia Flyers to absorb his remaining contract, watched him rebuild his value and now has a solid trade chip to cash in.

The Islanders get the salary-cap space they need, and the Coyotes collect more assets. Win-win.