There are several ways to put together and improve a hockey team which include building through the draft, signing free agents, and making trades. Drafting players and signing them through free agency means you need to add players at a specific time of the season, whereas trading for help can be done just about anytime.
In this article, we will take an in-depth look at how NHL trades work.
The Basics of NHL Trades:
What is a Trade in the NHL?
The basic idea of an NHL trade is to swap players or assets such as draft picks or future considerations for players, draft picks and/or future considerations from an opposing team. However, in the past money was occasionally involved in the deal, but cash trades are no longer allowed.
Why Do NHL Teams Make Trades?
NHL teams simply make trades as a way to improve their squad or their minor-league affiliates by adding current or future players or by stockpiling draft picks. But now that the salary cap era appears to be here to stay, some teams may simply make trades as a way to shift player contracts and to remain within the league’s salary cap. This is why many trades will see a team retaining a part of the traded player’s salary.
The NHL Trade Process Explained:
1. Initial Discussions
General managers who are looking to shake up or improve their teams typically contact other GM’s around the league to see if they are willing to part with a player, draft pick or future considerations. GM’s who make the initial contact usually have a player in mind they’d like to acquire or a player they’d like to part ways with for whatever reason.
2. Negotiations
When a GM finds another team which shows interest in trading away or acquiring a player they will begin to negotiate the specifics of a deal. These may begin in an offhanded manner but can quickly become serious once each GM becomes committed to a trade and specific names are mentioned.
All of the fine details need to be worked out and the respective teams must do so while remaining within the salary cap. Some deals are straightforward at this point while others can become quite complicated.
3. The Agreement
Once the GM’s have hammered out and fine-tuned all of the trade details they will come to an agreement. This teams must then submit the proposed trade to the NHL for approval. Once the league confirms all of the details and is sure the trade follows all of the rules and regulations it’s approved.
Both clubs involved in the deal must then confirm that they accept the trade in writing. Once this takes place the trade is made official and can be announced.
What are the Different Types of NHL Trades?
- Player for Draft Pick Trade
When a player is dealt for a draft pick it’s pretty straightforward as the player simply joins a new team in return for a future draft pick. - One for One Player Trade
A player for player swap is also uncomplicated and popular as it sees one player change teams with another player in a straight up deal. - Multi Player/Draft Pick Trade
Things can get a little complicated when multiple players and/or draft picks become involved in a trade. This is a deal that includes at least three people, regardless if they’re players, future considerations or draft picks.
For instance, in 1992 the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off a 10-player deal which saw Calgary send Doug Gilmour, Rick Wamsley, Ric Nattress, Kent Manderville and Jamie Macoun to Toronto for Craig Berube, Gary Leeman, Alexander Godynyuk, Jeff Reese and Michel Petit. Thankfully, there were no draft picks involved and the trade came before the salary-cap era which meant the teams didn’t have to worry about the players’ wages and retaining salaries.
What Does “Future Considerations” Mean?
Future considerations are often mentioned when a fringe player is traded.
A fringe player is someone who doesn’t play as much as your top players, and they end up being your healthy scratch who sits out of the game completely.
The team that acquires the fringe player doesn’t give up a current roster player or draft choice but more or less agrees to complete the deal sometime down the road at a future date. It’s comparable to signing an IOU as the club which dealt the player isn’t too concerned about the return at the time of the trade. Most future considerations turn out to be low-round draft choices.
When Can NHL Teams Make Trades?
Teams can’t make trades over a nine-day period at Christmas time (December 25th), as this is known as the NHL Christmas Trade Freeze. Trades can still be made after the league’s annual trade deadline but players who are dealt aren’t allowed to play for their new teams until the following season.
The NHL Trade Deadline Explained
The NHL puts in an annual trade deadline towards the end of the season, usually in late February or early March. If a player is dealt before the deadline he may play for his new club for the remainder of the regular-season and the playoffs. If he’s traded after the deadline he isn’t eligible to play until the following preseason and that’s why trades after the deadline are very rare.
The trade deadline was put in place to allow teams to make final roster preparations for the upcoming postseason. At this point in time, some clubs already know whether or not they will make the playoffs and become sellers or buyers.
The teams with no chance to make the postseason often deal away upcoming free agents while the teams which are planning on a long run in the playoffs attempt to pry away other team’s top players with attractive trade packages.
Upcoming unrestricted free agents are often the targets of playoff teams at the deadline and they may give up a great deal to acquire them. The newcomers to the team are typically known as rental players since their contracts are up at the end of the season.
What is the NHL Holiday Roster Freeze?
NHL teams aren’t allowed to make trades during the Holiday Roster Freeze around the Christmas holidays. This means players can’t be waived, loaned or traded in the nine-day period from 11:59 pm on December 18th to 12:01 am on December 27th each year.
This includes players on the active roster, the injured reserve, the injured non-reserve and non-roster players. The freeze was introduced to allow players to relax as much as possible and spend time with their families during the Christmas holiday and then it’s back to business as usual on December 28th.
This freeze was entered into the collective bargaining agreement in 1995 and was extended to include minor league loans in 2005. In addition, no NHL games are scheduled each year between December 24th and 26th. The league may schedule games on the 26th if it falls on a Saturday, and if so December 23rd will be given as a day off to the players.
The roster freeze is complicated though as the CBA states that NHL teams may recall players during this period and if a player was placed on waivers before the freeze came into affect he can be claimed during the roster freeze.
In addition there are a few other exceptions when it comes to roster moves made regarding long-term injuries and illnesses as well as loaning out emergency recalls.
Salary Cap Restrictions Can Prevent Trades
Due to the NHL’s salary cap it can be difficult to make the trade you want without going over the cap. If you’re already at the cap limit or close to it you simply can’t trade for the player you want as there are no exceptions to the salary cap.
It is possible to pull off a trade though if the other team retains a portion of the player’s salary they are willing to trade to you. In this case the most common solution to the problem is for one team to retain a portion of a traded player’s salary to make the deal.
Example:
If the Chicago Blackhawks have just $2 million of salary cap space remaining, and the player they want to acquire from the San Jose Sharks has a salary-cap hit of $4 million, the math doesn’t work as the Blackhawks would go over the cap by $2 million.
To make the deal feasible:
- The Sharks may agree to retain $2 million of the player’s salary cap hit.
- This means the easiest trades to make involve players with similar salary-cap hits or acquiring a player with a lower hit than the player you’re trading away.
Strategies for Teams Below the Cap
Clubs well below the salary cap may:
- Acquire a player with a high salary in return for draft picks or future considerations.
- This approach helps the team dealing away the high-salaried player to make room for another trade without going over the cap.
This is known as a salary dump or cash dump. While retaining salary can help facilitate trades, a team may only retain up to 50 percent of a player’s salary when trading him. Also, the percentage of salary needs to be retained for each remaining season of the contract, and a team is allowed a maximum of just three retained salaries at one time.
When Do Most NHL Trades Happen?
Most NHL trades take place during the annual NHL Entry Draft and the week up to and including the trade deadline. Clubs typically have a lot of assets to deal at the draft and usually have salary cap space since the draft takes place before the free agency period. In addition, all of the league’s general managers are together in the same spot, making it easier to hammer out deals.
Conditions on NHL Trades
Some NHL trades include certain conditions. This means the trade may change if a specific stipulation or goal is reached by a traded player.
One of the most common conditions involves high draft picks. For instance, a team may deal away a first-round draft pick for 2026 but add on a condition that the pick will be moved to 2027 if the 2026 pick is in the top-10. This is a safety mechanism, as no team wants to trade away a top-10 pick if they don’t have to.
Just about any condition within reason may be placed on a trade as long as both teams agree to it.
Another example:
Toronto trading a player to Chicago for a third-round draft choice, which would then become a second-rounder if the traded player scores a certain amount of goals, such as 25, for Chicago the following season. You could also flip the coin in this situation where Chicago would send a fourth-round pick if the player scores fewer than 25 goals for them, etc.
What is a No-Trade and No-Move Clause?
No-trade and no-move clauses may be written into an NHL player’s contract and they’re covered by the current collective bargaining agreement.
In basic terms a player with a no-trade clause can’t be traded unless he agrees to it. There are also modified no-trade clauses.
Example:
A player may be allowed to list a certain number of teams which he will or won’t agree to be traded to.
A no-movement clause means a player can’t be traded, reassigned to the minors, or placed on waivers without his consent.
However, players with these clauses written into their contracts can still have their contracts bought out by their club.
After a Trade: How Quickly Do Traded Players Relocate?
The speed at which NHL players arrive at their new teams after being traded depends on several factors. This includes where the player’s current team is located and when their next game is scheduled. A traded player needs to gather all of his equipment and typically needs to make his way to a different city.
I say typically because it’s possible to be traded to a team in the same city, such as New York Rangers to the New York Islanders. Also, LA Kings and the Anaheim ducks are neighbors.
This means transportation likely needs to be arranged. In general, most players arrive at their new location within a couple of days of the trade and then worry about their personal belongs and family situation afterwards.
They may have to sell their home, take their children out of school, uproot the family and purchase or rent a home in their new city. This all depends on where the player is in their family life.
Moving expenses, mortgages, airfares, and hotel rooms are covered in the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA).
Notable Trades in NHL History:
Some of the most notable trades in the NHL over the past 55 years were as follows:
Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings – August 9th, 1988
- Edmonton received forwards Martin Gelinas, Jimmy Carson, $15 million in cash and three first-round draft picks.
- Los Angeles received forwards Wayne Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski.
Eric Lindros from the Quebec Nordiques to the Philadelphia Flyers – June 20th, 1992
- Quebec received goaltender Ron Hextall, defencemen Steve Duchesne and Kerry Huffman, forwards Mike Ricci, Peter Forsberg, Chris Simon, two first-round draft picks and $15 million in cash.
- Philadelphia received forward Eric Lindros.
Patrick Roy from the Montreal Canadiens to the Colorado Avalanche – December 6th, 1995
- Colorado received goaltender Patrick Roy and forward Mike Keane.
- Montreal received forwards Andrei Kovalenko and Martin Rucinsky and goaltender Jocelyn Thibault.
Phil Esposito from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Boston Bruins – May 15th, 1967
- Boston received forwards Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield.
- Chicago received defenceman Gilles Marotte, forward Pit Martin and goaltender Jack Norris.
Cam Neely from the Vancouver Canucks to the Boston Bruins – June 20th, 1992
- Boston received forward Cam Neely and a first-round draft pick.
- Vancouver received forward Barry Pederson.
Jamie is the founder of Hockey Response and he is the chief writer/ lead editor. Jamie has been playing hockey for over 20 years. He was the defenseman of the year in NL and has played Jr A level hockey. Jamie has coached several kids hockey camps and he was the assistant coach of the Western Kings.