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NHL 2023-2024 Out of Town: Regular Season IV

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AngryMilkcrates

AngryMilkcrates

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Grimey

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That before and after photo of Nilan from the last thread…I thought the one on the right was chef Ramsay at first glance
 
ODAAT

ODAAT

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it`s clear the B`s need a C who can actually win a faceoff when it counts, there simply has to be a guy out there on the cheap. I don`t care if that player is a 4th liner with zero chance of ever recording a point because I would wager if we looked at all the leads blown late, goals scored late in periods or OT losses, almost all of them are direct results of a faceoff lost

I truly like Coyle and Zacha but neither can be trusted to win those faceoffs. Beecher was better than both but of course he was a cap casualty
 
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GordonHowe

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Inside the NHL’s NMC/NTC mania: Why trade protection is booming, and is it changing the deadline?​

Jeremy Rutherford and Chris Johnston
Mar 6, 2024
139
David Poile was several hundred negotiations and nearly 40 years deep in his career as an NHL general manager before he found a reason to go against one of his core principles for running a hockey team.
It was October of 2019, and the then-Nashville Predators GM agreed to give Roman Josi a contract that included a full no-movement clause for its entirety.
The Predators captain was a pending unrestricted free agent at the time — and in the early stages of a season that would earn him the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman. So understandably he and agent Judd Moldaver had the kind of leverage needed to get Poile to break from personal tradition on the $72.472 million, eight-year extension.
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Poile described it as a “unique and special situation” for a player likely to spend his entire career in Nashville.
It also no doubt played a role in the fact that teammate Filip Forsberg subsequently managed to snag a no-movement clause as part of his July 2022 extension with the Predators. His $68 million, eight-year contract came after a drawn-out negotiation and just days before he could have tested the open market coming off a 42-goal, 84-point season.
“I think it’s something that you want if you can get it,” Forsberg told The Athletic recently when asked about the value of trade protection. “You’ve got to fight for it a little bit.”
Not only does it appear to be a fight that players and their agents are taking seriously, but one where they are winning more regularly.
Mega extensions recently signed by Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson and Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander both included a full NMC in every eligible season. Even 38-year-old goaltender Jonathan Quick got a 20-team no-trade list included in his one-year extension with the New York Rangers last week.
In fact, according to data from Puckpedia, CapFriendly and reporting from The Athletic’s NHL staff, the number of trade clauses is on the rise in a major way. In 2018-19, there were 170 players with some form of protection in their contracts. In the past six seasons, that has gone up 44.1 percent.
Add it all up and you’ve got a quarter of the league (245 of 965 players) entering Friday’s trade deadline with more say than ever about where they can and can’t be moved. That’s nearly eight players per team. And it would be more, but players must be 27 years old or have seven seasons of NHL service to be eligible for such clauses.
The Athletic spoke with GMs, agents and players across the league to find out what’s behind the trend — and also what impact it has on whether deadline day will be crazy or quiet.

Note: A no-movement clause means a player cannot be traded, placed on waivers or assigned to the minors without his consent. A no-trade clause means a player cannot be traded without his consent. A modified or limited no-trade clause means a player can specify a predetermined number of teams he can or cannot be traded to. A no-movement clause with a modified no-trade clause means a player cannot be placed on waivers or assigned to the minors without his consent but can be traded as long as it’s not specified where he can or cannot be traded.​

The origin of NHL no-trade clauses is a bit of a mystery.
There are reports of them being included in contracts dating back to the 1970s, and some will say there were handshake agreements long before then.
Today they are a raging phenomenon unique to the league that exploded following the introduction of a hard salary cap in 2005-06, which put more guardrails around what players could be paid and saw those with strong negotiating power push for control in other areas. Consider that just one NBA player has a no-trade clause — Bradley Beal of the Phoenix Suns — and that only a handful of players in the NFL and MLB can veto deals.
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“I can’t remember when they came in to tell you the honest truth,” said Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland, who became the Detroit Red Wings GM in 1997 and currently has the second-most seniority in the league behind New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello. “I’ve given out a few in my career, and there’s what, 240-something of them now? So it’s part of doing business.”
There are a number of reasons for that.
Aside from the much-coveted protection, GMs are asking some players to take less money in order to help fit them under the salary cap, and in return, they get the leverage to demand a no-trade clause.
Free agency continues to be a financial boon for NHLers — more than $600 million in total contracts was handed out last July 1 — and one of the few ways for teams in a cap era to differentiate offers is with trade protection.
Plus, with the addition of teams in Seattle and Vegas, there are more players overall and more of them accruing the seven seasons of service needed to qualify for free agency at a younger age. That means they’re still in the prime of their careers and in a good position to secure trade language.
“I think younger free agency certainly plays into it, and then scarcity of players,” St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong said. “If you want to get a player, you’re willing to give no-trades or partial no-trades. The scarcity of players gives them more leverage. When you’re competing for championships or you’re trying to compete near the top of the league, you’re willing to do things that are probably not necessary.”
Still, in a world where NHL stars will always be granted their wish and others the leftovers, what is the rhyme or reason as to who receives the protection and who doesn’t?
How is it that the Colorado Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen, a top-10 NHL scorer this season, only has a modified no-trade clause, while, for example, defensive defenseman Scott Mayfield of the Islanders has a full no-trade clause and seldom-used Alex Goligoski of the Minnesota Wild has a full no-movement clause?
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“It’s a little all over the place,” said Allain Roy of RSG Hockey, who represents players whose current contracts total more than $300 million. “I think every agent you talk to will probably tell you the same thing. A lot of it is based on the contract history of the team and that GM.”
A team-by-team analysis shows the merit of that assertion.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Seattle Kraken have the most players in the league with some form of trade protection (14), followed by the Pittsburgh Penguins (13), Detroit Red Wings (12) and Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild (11 each).
In the case of the Wild, the flexibility of being able to make a trade or two could somewhat soften the team’s dire salary-cap situation, but that’s been difficult because of a no-movement clause given to Ryan Hartman, a no-trade clause to Marcus Johansson and a modified no-trade clause to Freddy Gaudreau.
“The guys always say, ‘Well, he’s got it and he’s got it,’” Wild GM Bill Guerin said. “We have quite a few, and I’ve taken some criticism for giving out so many, but they’re players we like, and I don’t foresee trading them. If something goes sour, then we can talk to the player about it. But I believe in the players we’ve given them to.”
At the other end of the spectrum, the Buffalo Sabres have the league’s fewest (two), followed by the Arizona Coyotes, New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators (three each).
There are teams and GMs who have reputations of issuing more clauses than others.
“Yeah, there are,” said agent J.P. Barry of CAA Sports, who represents players whose current contracts total more than $700 million. “But even the GM who’s most against it understands that it’s just leverage. I know in a few cases with a few GMs who were dead-set against it, they have a contract on the table and they’ve spent the last two weeks (stuck on the clause) … ultimately if a guy is going to walk out the door, they’re going to give it.”
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But according to the data, three-quarters of the league — 24 of 32 teams — have at least six players on their rosters with protection.
“I don’t care which GM it is,” said former Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen, who was fired by the franchise on Feb. 15 after 11 seasons. “If your core player is coming to UFA years, or you know you’re getting the UFA that you want, you’re giving them one because they won’t do it otherwise. They can say all they want that I’m not giving one, but find me a team that doesn’t have any.”
You won’t.
As an NHL agent, Roy hears his cell phone ring and beep incessantly, and he doesn’t flinch. But when the alarm clock goes off, it gets his attention.
“Everybody’s clause is a little bit different,” he said. “So I put an alarm in my phone the week before it’s due on every player, just to remind myself, because I’m so afraid to miss those.”
It’s both a reflection of how important those clauses are to his clients and a function of the fact that it typically falls on an agent to make sure a list of teams to which a client with a modified NTC would or wouldn’t accept a trade are filed on the schedule laid out in each individual contract.
That isn’t necessary for those in possession of no-movement clauses, which protect against all things — trades, minor-league assignments, etc. They became even more valuable as the NHL expanded to 32 teams. Players with no-movement clauses were required to be protected by their teams under the rules of the last two expansion drafts.
Most of the top players in the game have secured NMCs, accounting for a 72 percent jump, from 46 to 79, in the past six years.
Minnesota has the most in the league with seven, followed by Pittsburgh and Toronto (six each), and Edmonton, Dallas Stars and the New York Rangers (five each).
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“There are a whole lot of reasons to give them,” Holland said. “No. 1 might be that all 32 cities aren’t all the same in terms of living. Some teams, it depends where your team is in the standings. I think most of the time it’s going to come down to how important (the player is) to your team. Some teams have policies that they don’t want to do it, but if a player is really important and that’s important to him, you don’t want to lose a negotiation.”
St. Louis is one of five NHL clubs that does not have a player with a no-movement clause, but the Blues have issued the most no-trade clauses in the league (seven).
Armstrong said his stance against NMCs is not written in stone, but in 14 seasons with the club, he’s never signed a contract that included one.
“We’ve offered no-movements in the past,” he said, referencing deals that ultimately didn’t come to fruition. “It’s not like we haven’t done it. (But) my philosophy is you’re giving someone more power than the owner has. That seems difficult.”
In 2020, it became a sticking point between the Blues and former captain Alex Pietrangelo, when the defenseman was in contract negotiations that initially didn’t include a full NMC. The talks broke down, and Pietrangelo eventually signed a seven-year, $61.6 million free-agent deal with Vegas that included a full NMC for the entire term.
“Was it part of it? Yes,” Pietrangelo said. “It’s not the whole story. There’s way more to that story. But that was a small piece of it.”
Why was the NMC so important to Pietrangelo?
“When you get later in your career, you only have so many ways to protect yourselves,” Pietrangelo said. “I’ve seen guys in their late 30s go on waivers and play in the American League, and you don’t want to have that situation. If a team wants a player, the team is going to find a way to make it work, and a (no-movement clause) is one of the things they can do to make it work.”
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The sentiment was the same for others.
In 2022, San Jose’s Tomas Hertl signed an eight-year, $65.1 million contract, which includes a full NMC for the first three years.
“I worked for this 10 years in my career, and it’s nice to have a little control because the first couple years you don’t know what can happen,” Hertl said. “It’s kind of empowering.”
“It was a pretty heavy thing I needed to be in that contract,” said Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho, who signed a $78 million, eight-year extension last July that includes a full NMC for the first seven years.


Alex Pietrangelo left the Blues for the Golden Knights after a disagreement about trade protection. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
For players with less bargaining power than the Pietrangelos, Hertls and Ahos, a full or modified NTC can be attractive.
In the past six seasons, the number of full NTCs has fluctuated. Meanwhile, the number of modified NTCs has surged.
It’s up to GMs and agents to decide who has the leverage and how giving the player trade protection in exchange for a smaller salary can benefit both sides.
“It varies from player to player how they actually value that,” Barry said. “But I know when it comes to a (full no-trade clause), players definitely have a value on it.”
How much? Hundreds of thousands of dollars? Millions perhaps?
“Significant money,” Guerin said, without putting a value on it.
In the case of a modified NTC, in which a player submits a list of teams to whom they can or can’t be traded, there’s not as much savings for the club, but every little bit helps.
“It’s all part of the dollar negotiation,” Armstrong said. “Everything is negotiable.”
And it still leaves some wiggle room.
“If you can have a list of eight or 10 (teams), you’ve got some type of flexibility if you want to make some moves, especially with the flat cap that we’ve had,” Holland said.
On a week like this one, all the contract details are important.
Of the top 10 players listed on The Athletic’s trade board as of Tuesday, just three are playing on deals without trade language: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Sean Walker, Anaheim Ducks winger Frank Vatrano and Devils winger Tyler Toffoli.
Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom owns a no-movement clause while Ottawa Senators forward Vladimir Tarasenko has a full no-trade clause. Neither can be traded without his consent.
What remains to be seen is if the growing number of players with trade protection will put the brakes on the action during the NHL’s busiest trading period. There were 20 deals on deadline day in 2019, followed by 32, 17, 32 and 19 in the past four years.
“I’d say no (impact),” Barry said. “If there were a lot of no-movement clauses, that could restrict it, but I don’t think there are too many. A no-trade clause, ultimately, is ‘You can only trade me where I want to go.’ When a team still decides that they’re going to trade a player, that decision has been made. The player is going to know that, and they’re going to work with a team on a few destinations. Maybe that’s only one team, but there’s some flexibility there.”
The notion of flexibility in NHL transactions, though, isn’t what it once was.
(Top graphic: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic, with photos of David Poile, William Nylander and Doug Armstrong by Andrew Lahodynskyj, Danny Murphy and Scott Rovak / NHLI via Getty Images)


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