Palmateer, a pending free agent, could not get Maple Leafs general manager Punch Imlach to agree to a multi-year contract[3] and their impasse ultimately led to the goaltender signing a four-year $800,000[3] deal with the Washington Capitals.
In lieu of working out the compensation required for the signing, the two clubs agreed to a trade that sent Palmateer's rights to Washington while the Maple Leafs acquired defensemen Robert Picard along with forward Tim Coulis.
[citation needed] Capitals owner Abe Pollin, who had committed a large sum of money towards securing Palmateer's services, was not happy to see the goalie struggling and demanded Green continue to use him despite diminishing returns.
During the off-season, David Poile was hired as the new general manager of the Capitals and just days into the job, on September 9, 1982, made his first trade by sending Palmateer back to the Maple Leafs for cash considerations.
[6] With Palmateer sidelined, the bulk of the goaltending duties for the Maple Leafs fell to prospect Allan Bester, who was summoned from the Ontario Hockey League in midseason to take over the starting job.
[10] However, with 14 knee operations, a year spent off the ice and the all-star tandem of Fuhr and Andy Moog already in Edmonton, his tryout was brief and he officially retired from the National Hockey League.