Fox did it in the best way possible too, he let the Flames brass know he had no intention to sign with them.
The Flames then found him an expendable piece that they were able to get value out of in the Lindholm trade.
He then did the same with Carolina, let them know he would return to school if they didn’t trade him to the Rangers (who he would have signed with had he went back) and they got good value in the situation they were given.
The short of it is this isn't known publicly. I'd love to hear for sure what Fox or his agent told the Flames and the Canes. He PROBABLY made it known to the Flames that he was a risk to be signed, which is why the Flames traded him. At the same time, Fox did feel like a "throw in" of sorts, since at the time I think he had less value than Hamilton and Lindholm, and Hanifin was still a very promising young defenseman (and Ferland was a good middle six physical complimentary piece). A few months into the year, Waddell said he was 99% confident he could sign Fox. Not too long after the season ends, Fox then tells the team he would be playing a senior season, so we trade him to the Rangers, and he immediately plays for them. I think if Fox wanted to play for us, we would have had room for him. But that is speculation.
I'm a little miffed that we couldn't get him, but I am not that mad because he exercised his rights as a player. What is unclear is what he told the Flames and Canes management. I don't think anyone knows what happened. I'd like to think Waddell told the truth when he said 99%. But if you're the GM, suppose Fox said "**** you I won't play for the Canes, only the Rangers". You would probably lie and say you were confident you could sign Fox so as not to depress his trade value. So I am pleased at the very least that Fox didn't go public with trade demands like some other players.
As far as his career goes, I want nothing but success for Fox. He's a damn good player. I wish he were on the Canes of course, but at the same time we got good value. On one hand, I'm a little surprised that the Rangers didn't hold out more. For instance, they could have offered only a 2nd or only a 3rd. They instead offered 2 seconds (one was conditional). This was pretty good value. I think part of this may be Jeff Gorton wanting to keep things friendly, as the Rangers and Canes have made a lot of trades together over the years.
Canes have been screwed once by a similar thing when we drafted Freddie Andersen in the 7th and he refused to sign, so he re-entered the draft. Same thing would have happened with recently traded Gregory Hoffman, but his agent forgot to file the paperwork. Seriously.
We benefitted from this a single time in my memory, when Chase Priskie signed with us and not the Caps. He was decent, but not great, in the AHL, and was part of the Trocheck deal.