According to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, the Ducks are willing to do something unprecedented in order to get a deal for Gibson done. Retain part of his salary, if it means getting a bigger return in a trade for the star goaltender. Salary retention isn't unprecedented, but being willing to retain salary for 5 years is something that just doesn't happen in the NHL.
Gibson has fallen off a little during the last 3 seasons, but that's mostly because he's playing on a Ducks team that doesn't have much to show in the way of defence. Last season he had a record of 18-26-11 with 1 shutout, a 3.19 goals against average and a .904 save percentage. A far cry from 2017-18 version of John Gibson.
However at 28, he's seemingly still going into the prime years of his career as a goaltender, if Anaheim can get a deal done with a decent return and some salary retention, I see no reason on the right team why Gibson can't return to form. Perhaps now that the Ducks are willing to eat a portion of his salary, teams should be lining up to take the once star goaltender off their hands.