Burrows salary next season is 3 million but his cap hit is still 4.5. So in a buyout Burrows would cost 2 million this coming season and 1 million the season after.
So from a dollars sense, buying out Burrows costs almost the same as just letting him play but from a salary cap standpoint, it's about 1.5 million cheaper in the end.
Backdiving contracts are mind boggling in a salary cap world.
Canucks really need his roster spot, only reason I see him getting bought out. If Burrows stays, there's probably not enough cap or roster spots available for a free agent cuz Baertschi, Etem, Pedan, and Larsen still need deals and all would be waiver eligible. And Canucks only have 9 million of cap with Burrows/Higgins on the team. Those 4 probably eat up about 6 of it.