Well, that history has to go somewhere, and since the totality of the franchise is what's changing hands/locations, it makes more sense to leave it intact. Naturally, you have to specify when talking about the older team's accomplishments, but it would diminish the value of the franchise overall if the history was stripped away.
I am rooting against the Devils, Rangers, Blues, and Predators. Since the Wings can't win this year, I want a team who hasn't won it before to win, but I hate the Blues and Preds, so they're out. I want the Caps to come out of the East, and the Kings or Yotes from the West.
That is garbage. I don't know why they don't put a stop to this. This will definitely encourage players to ditch out of the last year on their entry level deals, since they can come back and play Franzen's favorite part of the year, and burn that last year off.
If the Preds weren't going to make the playoffs, I can guarantee you Poile would be crying foul about Radulov trying to come back.