Reader here, and as a hockey fan, I was surprised (but not really), when I was scrolling my phone late Sunday night, to find that the Ottawa Senators has shipped captain Brady Tkachuk off to the Florida Panthers, for a whole swack of draft picks.
Was there anybody out there who actually thought that Brady wouldn’t pull the same thing his brother Matthew did, and that Quinn Hughes did?
They let their (Canadian) teams – Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver, respectively – know that they’d be out the door as soon as their contracts were up, forcing their teams to ship ’em out, and get what they could for them.
Alas, much like when NBA teams started the “Superteam” era, such as when LeBron James, and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in Miami, or when the Boston Celtics teamed Paul Pierce up with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, we’re now seeing the same thing happen in the NBA.
The big difference between the NBA and NHL, is that anybody can pretty much be shipped anywhere at any time in the NBA.
The NHL is infested with nonsensical trade protection and no-trade clauses, which means that just about every Tom, Dick and Harry gets to submit a no-trade list, and can veto deals that would see them go anywhere they don’t want to.
On one hand, good for the players. After decades of NHL owners having all the power, the balance has shifted, and players are taking advantage of it. As well they should.
On the other hand, to the players… NEWS FLASH!!! There are only so many roster spots on a given team, and a salary cap still exists. So no matter how much you ONLY want to go to Florida, Vegas, Minnesota or Tampa Bay, you won’t always get your wish.
Okay… nine times out of ten, you probably will, but you get what I’m saying.
And frankly, with both Tkachuk brothers in Florida, why would you want to go there anyway?
So far, Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has resisted the urge to head south, but who knows what could happen, if the latest Leafs’ rebuild doesn’t get him any closer to a Stanley Cup?
And let’s be real… you’ve got to figure that after backstopping Team USA to Olympic gold earlier this year, star Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck has one foot out the door already, and will be looking to head to a contender, likely back home in the US of A, if Winnipeg can’r get the job done in the near future.
This does raise another question.
If the top players in a given draft are American players, and you’re a Canadian team looking to build your team, do you take a chance on those American players, knowing that they’re increasingly unlikely to stick around for the duration of their rookie contract?
It’s a whole new can of worms for the NHL, and will make things a bit tougher on Canadian teams (and lower tier U.S. teams), as they look to compete in the future.
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