Shrewd general managers throughout the NHL have found a major loophole in the league's collective bargain agreement. Since only a player's average salary for the life of his contract is used to determine their yearly cap hit, teams can offer a player a higher salary during the prime of his career without taking a large cap hit during their big pay day years and soften the blow for buy-out options during the later years of a player's contract.
You could make a strong argument that the NHL needs to crack down on this practice. However, I don't think that they can go back and void contracts based on a concept as abstract as "the spirit of the CBA". What the hell is the "spirit of the CBA"? Is that Gary Bettman's new expansion team in Mobile, Alabama or some sort of Hockey-themed casino?. The NHL needs to have a more concrete policy for contract structure. Until then, you simply have to reward the GMs you are creative enough to work the CBA in their favor.