Speculation: Has a team ever signed a free agent with the intention of trading them?

[EK392000]

Just wondering if a team has ever weaponized their cap space in this way? I do this in Chel all the time.

For example, a team with ample cap space signs Patrick Kane to a lucrative one year deal and then immediately flips him with 50% retention to another team.

I know Buffalo did this with Taylor Hall but they did not have the intention at the time of the signing.

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[Mrfenn92]

Pretty much every rebuilding team

 

[12ozPapa]

Ducks did it with Klingberg

 

[Play]

We call that a Cali special.

Only seen Cali teams do it

 

[KevinRedkey]

Yes - but AFAIK, the player always seems to be aware of the plan.

If it's happened without the player being in on it - No idea. I feel like the team would never let that secret leak anyways, so we'd never know.

 

[AKL]

I would be surprised if Arizona signed Dumba and Zucker to hold onto them for the entire season.

 

[Breakers]

Conor garland signed in Vancouver thinking he can get the contract he wanted but wanted out as soon as he signed paper to pen.

Toronto signed some cat I forget his name and they got 2nd round picks for him in back to back deadlines

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Habs did with Ilya Kovalchuk. Signed him purely to dump at TDL.

I think they are doing the same with Monahan this year. Another attempt to trade him at TDL.

 

[BurgoShark]

The examples people are using are guys who were signed with the intention of them playing 3/4 of the season and being traded at the deadline - to maximise the return for the trade and minimise cap hit for the acquiring team. This is fairly common.

As far as a player being signed for the purpose of being traded immediately with retention, even though this isn’t expressly forbidden by the CBA, I’d say that is something the league would consider cap circumvention.

 

[BLNY]

Ilya Kovalchuk in Montreal.

 

[vpasla1]

The only one I an think of is when the Ottawa Senators traded Marian Hossa hours after signing him to an extension, and as far as I understand, Hossa was not aware of the trade.

Heatley traded to Sens for Hossa

The Atlanta Thrashers traded former NHL rookie of the year Dany Heatley to the Ottawa Senators for Marian Hossa on Tuesday, a blockbuster deal involving two high-scoring right wingers.

www.espn.com

Here's some more information about it: The Marian Hossa for Dany Heatley Trade, Revisited

 

[MasterMatt25]

Taylor Hall with Buffalo a couple years ago

 

[SI90]

Buffalo Hall

 

[Three On Zero]

Conor garland signed in Vancouver thinking he can get the contract he wanted but wanted out as soon as he signed paper to pen.

Toronto signed some cat I forget his name and they got 2nd round picks for him in back to back deadlines

Bullshit on Garland

 

[Djp]

Just wondering if a team has ever weaponized their cap space in this way? I do this in Chel all the time.

For example, a team with ample cap space signs Patrick Kane to a lucrative one year deal and then immediately flips him with 50% retention to another team.

I know Buffalo did this with Taylor Hall but they did not have the intention at the time of the signing.

other than a sign and trade type of trade it wound be illegal in thr league as cap circumvention with-a team retaining.

 

[Djp]

Taylor Hall with Buffalo a couple years ago

That wasn’t what OP was saying.

yes you sign a rental player to a one yr then trade them as a deadline is allowed….but they are actively playing games with that short term team.

it’s happened many teams withHall, Jagrvto Boston, and others. It’s usually 1-2 a yr.

 

[LeafChief]

Conor garland signed in Vancouver thinking he can get the contract he wanted but wanted out as soon as he signed paper to pen.

Toronto signed some cat I forget his name and they got 2nd round picks for him in back to back deadlines

Daniel Winnik

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

other than a sign and trade type of trade it wound be illegal in thr league as cap circumvention with-a team retaining.

Under what rule?

The Canadiens and Oilers were very close to doing this with Klingberg before the start of last season. I believe it was dependant on a Barrie trade that never eventuated. Eventually Klingberg signed his deal in Anaheim.

Source: 32 Thoughts

 

[PettersonHughes]

Can only think of examples from teams that are trying to tank, didn't Vanek do that awhile ago? Signed some one year deals (Detroit, Vancouver, Detroit again) and then went on a jersey collecting spree with his TDL moves as a pending UFA. Now none of us were in the room but it could be safe to assume that, if their mercenary skills weren't needed then it would have been assumed that they would've been traded, since the Wings and Canucks of those eras were both middling.

 

[dirtydanglez]

flipped at the deadline sure. traded immediately would kill your reputation. no free agent will sign for the foreseeable future without trade protection.

 

[Oddbob]

Literally every rebuilding team that signs a prominent or half way decent UFA to 1-2 year deals.

Just wondering if a team has ever weaponized their cap space in this way? I do this in Chel all the time.

For example, a team with ample cap space signs Patrick Kane to a lucrative one year deal and then immediately flips him with 50% retention to another team.

I know Buffalo did this with Taylor Hall but they did not have the intention at the time of the signing.

No team signs a guy with intent of trading them a day later though. If you do that, UFA's would soon sour on signing with you as they are people with families and that is pretty disrespectful when guys move their families a new city.

 

[AHLdepth]

Brad Treliving made NHL history with the Matthew Tkachuk trade - The Win Column

What a whirlwind offseason it’s been for the Calgary Flames to say the least. Just when the dust barely started to settle on Johnny Gaudreau’s shocking move to Columbus, Matthew Tkachuk made it known that he would not be signing in Calgary meaning the Flames would be looking to trade him. As if...

thewincolumn.ca

 

[Fish on The Sand]

The only one I an think of is when the Ottawa Senators traded Marian Hossa hours after signing him to an extension, and as far as I understand, Hossa was not aware of the trade.

Heatley traded to Sens for Hossa

The Atlanta Thrashers traded former NHL rookie of the year Dany Heatley to the Ottawa Senators for Marian Hossa on Tuesday, a blockbuster deal involving two high-scoring right wingers.

www.espn.com

Here's some more information about it: The Marian Hossa for Dany Heatley Trade, Revisited

That doesn't really qualify.

1) Hossa was RFA, not UFA
2) There was no salary retention back then
3) There were also no contract length restrictions

This was an example of somebody who just happened to get traded after signing.

There's not really any benefit to the receiving team in that arrangement.

 

[Stephen]

Leafs must have done this more than once with Daniel Winnik.

 

[Djp]

Under what rule?

The Canadiens and Oilers were very close to doing this with Klingberg before the start of last season. I believe it was dependant on a Barrie trade that never eventuated. Eventually Klingberg signed his deal in Anaheim.

Source: 32 Thoughts

you can’t do a sign a UFS, retain, then trade. It’s cap circumvention. The league will block it.

it’s the same thing thst saw player X traded to a different team, get bought out, thrn sign with original team. This happened and the league say this will not happen again.