There is a belief among general managers that there will be plenty of good players available this summer via trade as teams scramble to squeeze themselves under a salary cap that isn’t growing at the ideal pace.
Last summer, Dallas took advantage by adding Patrick Sharp in a deal that is turning out to be an absolute steal for GM Jim Nill. It’s not the first time Nill has used that avenue to build his team and it won’t be the last.
In turning the Stars into contenders, he’s made Dallas a destination where veterans (like Jason Spezza) with trade protection are willing to go.
Not every team has that advantage.
For the second consecutive year, we polled 10 agents to get a sense of which teams are most often listed on no-trade clauses by asking them to send in their top three most frequent no-trade teams. For the second consecutive year, two teams were on nearly every ballot, and it’s third place where it got interesting:
1. Edmonton Oilers (six first-place votes): The Oilers topped this list last year, and even the additions of Connor McDavid, Todd McLellan and Peter Chiarelli weren’t enough to dislodge the Oilers out of the top spot.
But there’s a very real possibility the Oilers start to disappear from some lists. One agent used Pittsburgh as an example. He said the Penguins were a frequent mention on no-trade lists until Sidney Crosby arrived and the team started having success. Then they vanished from no-trade lists.
“Now, everybody wants to play in Pittsburgh because they want to play with Sid,” said the agent. “A chance to play with Connor McDavid, and he appears to be as good as advertised, will change people’s minds.”
The Oilers will also be moving into their new arena next year, one that looks pretty spectacular.
The Oilers may be mainstays on no-trade lists, but, according to a source, that hasn’t prevented them from making any deals in the last couple years. The most recent high-profile player to turn away a deal with the Oilers was Dany Heatley in 2009.
Cam Talbot is a good example of how players’ attitudes about Edmonton can change. He was dealt to the Oilers at the draft, and the word behind the scenes was that he was just going to play out his final season on his contract and then hit free agency. By January, he had a three-year contract extension to stay in Edmonton.
The key now is turning McDavid and a new arena into wins. That’s the only way to move out of this top spot.
“Winning cures just about anything,” one executive said.
2. Winnipeg Jets (four first-place votes): Unlike the Oilers, the Jets have been hurt recently by their presence on no-trade lists. They wanted to make a deal for Spezza, but Winnipeg wasn’t a trade option for the Senators.
And unlike the Oilers, they don’t have a generational superstar like McDavid to sell to players. Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, though, believes that their plan to build through the draft can lead to wins and changing of perception.
“[No-trades] are things that are part of the game. You don’t spend a lot of time fretting over that,” Cheveldayoff said. “From my standpoint, you make the necessary calls, ask the necessary questions and deal with whatever the situation and realities are. All you can do is run your team the way you feel you’d like to.”
Cheveldayoff pointed out that the Jets have successfully retained their own players, an indication that once a player gets to the city and organization, they like it. Dustin Byfuglien would have been the most sought-after defenseman on the free-agent market. The Jets got a new deal done with him to keep him in Winnipeg for the next five years.
“As an organization, we strongly believe that when players are part of the Jets, they want to stay part of the Jets. That’s what we think,” Cheveldayoff said. “We’re proud of our town, we’re proud of the people in it. The players who come through universally talk about the passion and the excitement in our building and the uniqueness of it. We’re proud of it.”
NOTE: This is where things get unwieldy. Only one ballot didn’t have both Edmonton and Winnipeg on it. Nine other teams were mentioned as alternatives and it’s hard to draw a conclusion as to which team in the league would be third.
Part of the problem in determining a third team is that the typical no-trade clause can list around 10 teams, as an agent pointed out. This 10-team list from one player, give or take a team, is probably pretty typical: Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Buffalo, Arizona, New Jersey, Carolina, Nashville, Vancouver and Toronto.
“The three is interesting. When you get to No. 3, it really goes from player-to-player and their personal preference,” said one agent. “Edmonton and Winnipeg are the virtual automatics.”
3. New York Islanders (one first-place vote, one third-place vote): The Islanders' situation in Brooklyn has moved them from a team that wasn’t mentioned at all during last year’s poll to one that found its way onto two ballots.
“Players don’t want to deal at all with the logistics nightmare,” said one agent.
Another defending the Islanders said that once players start living in Brooklyn, the commute would be less of an issue.
“Guys don’t have the right routine yet,” he said. “It’ll change over time.”
4. Columbus Blue Jackets (two third-place votes): The Blue Jackets are another team that cracked this list for the first time. One agent mentioned the possibility that players may be leery of playing for John Tortorella in the future.
Another said that clients who have played in Columbus end up loving it. It’s just a hard sell right now because of the lack of success on the ice.
“I think that people don’t realize that Columbus is actually a really good city and an attractive place to play,” he said. “People don’t realize that until they get there.”
Others receiving votes: Toronto, New Jersey, Calgary, Buffalo, Arizona, Carolina and Montreal.
TRENDING UP
Buffalo Sabres: The Sabres earned a first-place vote last year and were mentioned in 40 percent of the ballots. This time, they were mentioned just once.
“I’ve had no issues yet,” said Sabres GM Tim Murray. “Josh Gorges waived his no-trade to come to us. He turned Toronto down and he came to Buffalo … I tell our ownership that I believe Buffalo is a destination, but I don’t think it’s the first destination for a lot of players. We’re not in the hinterlands like some other teams where players will absolutely not come. If we get into a room with a free agent, I believe that we can convince him Buffalo is the right place to be. Until this point, there hasn’t been an issue.”
Florida Panthers: The Panthers were mentioned last year in part because players wanted to avoid playing in an empty building. They weren’t on a single ballot this year, and if GM Dale Tallon can continue the momentum, this could end up being a destination like Tampa Bay where players really want to play.
“A few years ago, guys were less inclined to want to go to Florida than they are now,” said an agent. “It’s obviously a great place to play now that the team is good.”
Said another agent: “I think Florida was a place of concern, but the guys seem to be more and more comfortable with the direction they are going.”