It’s nice the rest of the media world has finally caught on to the idea that this thing really seems like it’s going to happen. With the “leaked” expansion draft rules coming out last week media members everywhere are trying to figure out how it will affect their teams.
Some are claiming it’ll kill good teams. Others think teams with players with “no-move-clauses” (NMC’s) will get hurt. And the rest are just like all of us geeking out about what’s to come.
There are still a lot of rules to be figured out, especially one that was brought up by our good friend Frank Seravalli (we’ve never met Frank but if we say he’s out friend maybe he’ll actually want to be our friend. This works sometimes. Ask Dana how he became friends with me and Jason.)
The NHL has not yet made a decision on whether teams will be allowed to trade players and/or picks to an expansion team in exchange for a guarantee to not select certain unprotected players. -Frank Seravalli
For example Buffalo traded Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, Matt Davidson, and two fifth-round draft picks to Columbus to guarantee the BJ’s wouldn’t select Dominik Hasek or Martin Biron.
Over the past few expansion drafts there have been quite a few of these and they are excellent for the expansion franchise. Basically the new team is bribed to not select certain players and the bounty has to be healthy enough to make it worth the guarantee.
Based on the continued rhetoric from the commissioner that the league wants to make the new team competitive, one could only assume this type of trade would be acceptable.
As for NMC’s, our BFF Frank also had this to add.
Will players with no-move clauses be eligible to be picked? The NHL’s position on that is, yes, the CBA does not specifically mention those clauses protecting from an expansion draft. This still needs to be bargained with the NHLPA. -Frank Seravalli
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly also commented that players with NMC’s “would never be exempt” from the process. Some fightin’ words from the league, but if you are having a little fun going through rosters trying to figure out who might be among the first to don a Las Vegas sweater, I’d rule NMC players out. The NHLPA doesn’t always get what they want, but in this case, they most likely will.
This is the part where I say, all this news is excellent for Las Vegas. The more people in and around the league are talking expansion the harder it will be for them to pull the plug on it. So, yeah, this is all good for Vegas.
Stephen (@me_so_hungy)
The more the league gives into the PA here the more likely the owners/GMs can get with moving draft ages to 19 (as well as a chip so the players won’t play in the Olympics).
We won’t get the full picture until the PA ok’s them. When the news leaks that they have, the NHL will announce the franchise that next day. As we know that announcement is coming soon, so all of this rosterbating is already being discussed. That Quebec radio guy’s comments are more real now than the seemed before.