A New Kind of Player “Rental”

It has been my belief that when the NHL finally releases the rules for the upcoming expansion draft that players with no-trade and no-movement clauses will be available to be selected if not protected by their current teams. This is something to keep in mind as trades are made prior to the deadline.  Today’s news that Dion Phaneuf was traded to Ottawa is a prime example of why. While this is a fantastic trade for Toronto (as they are full-go on a rebuild), this isn’t a zero-sum trade, as it makes sense for Ottawa to take on some salary (in the short-term) to get back into the playoff hunt.

Phaneuf, who turns 31 in April, has a $7 million AAV for the next 5 seasons ending in 2020-21, and he hasn’t played up to the contract to this point. That contract has looked bad for Toronto NOW, but Ottawa took a chance today to see what he can provide in a 2^nd line role. Looking up in the standings, they are behind 4 teams for the last wild card spot in the East (including the Islanders, who currently hold that last wild card position, and have 3 games in hand), so a move had to be made. With a -13 goal differential, and giving up the most goals in the conference, this move will assist in shoring up the blue line pairings.

For the interest of Las Vegas fans, deals like this should be viewed as what it will mean in terms of the expansion draft. Ottawa (if my assumption that trade and movement clauses will not apply to the draft pool), is able to take on the ridiculous cap hit in the short-term just to see where a Phaneuf rental can give them for the rest of this year and through at least a full season next year. If made available to Vegas, he could provide a player with name recognition that would do well in a market with a smaller microscope than that Toronto puts on its players. The Edmonton-native is now a former captain of the most rabid hockey market in the league, and could easily fill the same role with Vegas.

As players move throughout the league prior to the trade deadline, through free agency this summer, and prior to next year’s trade deadline, keep in mind that 2017-18 is in focus for every move.  Make no mistake that the Executive Committee and Board of Directors are sharing every bit of information in regards to expansion with their GMs. There is no secret inside those offices what is going to happen, and it is front and center as deals are being made for players. This thinking provides an interesting side-show in the actions of teams moving forward.

If a team is in on a player, is it worth it to take the risk to mortgage talent in a trade, or salary cap space in hopes that a Vegas team will snag them in a draft? Just because a player is made available to Vegas to select, does not mean that they have to do so. This is not a given that Foley and his GM will pick up every high salary player, but it does allow current teams an excuse to make moves that they wouldn’t normally engage in because they have a situation where they could be freed of fault for taking on such a chance. Further, it will be interesting to see who Foley tags as his GM and if that person has had any actions in some of these deals.