Anatomy of an NHL Trade: How mid-season deals get done

“Most people wouldn’t believe how much work goes into a trade. More often than not, nothing gets done.” - NHL General Manager

In today’s world, people demand instant gratification. Sports fans are no different. Attention spans have been reduced thanks to a constant barrage of entertainment, information, and junk food for the soul that permeates our culture.

This has led to a demand for more action, whether on the field of choice or in the boardrooms that govern them.

Soon-to-be NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Durant recently said of that short attention span, “Nothing is good enough for the fans right now. [The] only thing they enjoy is playoffs, trade deadline, free agency and when players beef with each other.”

While all eyes are on a sport during specific moments, like the trade deadline, we rarely see people understand how difficult it is to pull off a high-profile trade. This is especially true in the NHL, where a hard cap system has bred incredible parity and nearly immovable assets.

To better understand the difficulties and limitations involved in executing a mid-season trade, I sat down with a host of current and former shot-callers. The goal was to unearth what goes on behind closed doors as each team aggressively attempts to strengthen its roster without significantly aiding its competitors.

Some sources asked to remain nameless. Others were more open with their information. Each consumer of the information can draw their own conclusions. But what needs to be noted before diving in is this:

The anatomy of a trade can be as complex as the human circulatory system. It is a series of intricate decisions and directions that rarely go as planned or hoped. The roadblocks are vast, and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is almost as difficult to attain as the myth attached to it.

Rules of engagement

“You have this Rubik's cube, and you’ve got these three rows, and you're trying to line them all up.” - Steve Werier, former Florida Panthers’ AGM

Inevitably, it begins with a need. A desire. A wish. An area of weakness that can be filled through parlaying an area of strength. A natural and expected set of expectations. You have something I need, I have something you need.

Nearly every person involved in this process indicated that they preferred to have as much information as possible. Consistent contact with every boardroom is imperative to have a finger of the pulse and not miss out on a potential opportunity. 

Former Vancouver Canucks General Manager, Mike Gillis was no different. “I tended to prefer being proactive in initiating trade discussions. I found that having as much information as possible from across organizations helps me make the best decisions.”

This sentiment was echoed by former Florida Panthers’ Assistant GM, Steve Werier. “We wanted to have perfect information, institutional knowledge, on other general managers. Who are the players they tend to target? What are the contracts they tend to sign? What are their biases when they have a pending RFA, are they willing to get their hands dirty?”

However, there are exclusive relationships between some managers that leads to a more limited net cast when a player becomes available. Usually that can benefit a buyer, but more often than not, it comes at the cost of the seller.

“Managers are people too. They have relationships that go back decades to playing careers, family vacations… Some prefer to deal with people they know well," one anonymous executive told Elite Prospects. “The most successful organizations aren’t limiting who they talk to though. They want the best return regardless of friendships or history.”

While maximizing information appears to be a consensus, how to approach a trade target differs from manager to manager.

Gillis preferred to be upfront. 

“I believe in being upfront and direct in my approach. If there's a player I think could help us, I'll reach out directly to see if the other team has interest in moving them," Gillis said.

However, one anonymous source shared a story that was a little more deceptive.

“We had a specific target in mind, but rather than tip our hand (our team) initially brought up a higher-value asset as the main target before ‘settling’ for the player we truly coveted. Not only did it work out, but we felt we obtained that player for slightly less than we would have if it had been known he was the player in our sights all along.”

It takes a village… or at least, it should

“He walked into his office. He closed the door. He didn't talk to anyone on his team and he did all of his business.” - Anonymous NHL Executive

In the hard-cap world of the NHL, every bean is counted and maximizing value is king. However, those restraints do not carry over into the scouting and executive wings. Which is why we see wealthy franchises boasting extra large staffs.

The more information, the better. Or so you would think.

Depending on the organization and leadership group, decisions can be made by a host of high-ranking executives or it can be one man – the general manager – tucked away in his office, scouring his lineup and those of his opponents.

“I always wanted collaboration.” Gillis had to say. “There are certain players that you just don’t know enough about. Sometimes a player would become available 10 minutes before the deadline. You need your people to have a quick debate if it’s something to pursue.”

But that isn’t always the case. Two anonymous executives, one current and one former, shared stories involving a General Manager in the final year of his contract who decided to go at it alone.

“He walked into his office. He closed the door. He didn't talk to anyone on his team and he did all of his business. And then the owner went in and said, ‘Not on my watch. That’s not how we do things here.’”

That was the final trade deadline that particular General Manager worked with that organization.

The second story was described as this. As the scouts were flying into the home city to begin work on deadline intel, the General Manager went rogue, making several moves at the cost of high-value draft picks for players," he described. "Players who our scouts were not particularly high on, especially relative to the overall market. When those scouts arrived, they were surprised.”

That executive went on to say.

“The reason those deals were made at that time was the GM thought it would help the team and be credited to them personally, if they panned out. As everyone knows in the league, when you have GMs and executives, they're going to act based on, at times, where they are contractually.”

General Managers, just like you or me, have a desire to keep their positions or obtain new ones in the future. It appears that some of them will act out of self preservation rather than what's best for the club's long-term success. 

However, some put club above of their professional security as one source spoke extremely highly of his former GM who knew that he would not survive long enough to see the upswing of a rebuild, but pushed along that path because that was what was needed. Knowing he could respect his decisions and justify them in future interviews. 

“Rebuilding is hard and quite frankly, most GMs who start rebuilds are usually not the ones that see the the fruits of their labor,” this executive said. "It takes real balls to go down that path and that's why you see a lot of teams now try to these failed attempts to rebuild on the fly, But to his credit, redacted said 'no, there's a right way to do this. We're going to take our lumps, but here's the path, here's the vision'".

Using the media

“There's this ecosystem of trading access and information in favours, and especially some of the longer tenured folks who have a lot of leverage and a lot of long standing relationships.” - Steve Werier

Using the media is a tactic that many, but not all, organizations utilize. Because it is so widely used, everyone relies on it as a source of information, but not everyone feeds the beast. Some simply consume the output.

In the days of Twitter and an abundance of insiders, accruing information isn’t difficult—the real challenge is determining its quality. One source indicated that local media used to be a highly valuable stream of knowledge because a beat reporter might uncover something that wouldn’t immediately gain national attention.

“We made one trade where we literally realized the player was available because of some random radio report in that market on locker cleanout day,” he shared.

“One of our junior prospect analysts came running in and said, ‘Hey, I heard on the radio today that so-and-so wasn’t happy at roster cleanout. Why don’t you guys call the team? He’s awesome.’ And we made a deal based on that information.”

Additionally, managers will often use the media to temper or manage expectations for their fanbase.

A general manager may approach a media member and have them write a piece on a player who is up for a new contract. The article might highlight how exceptional the player is and compare him contractually to, say, an $8-million player.

Werier explains the reasoning behind this tactic: “Why would you ever do that? The answer is, well, you might be about to sign a deal with him for $6 million, and you want your voice around the league and in the media—and also to your owner—to be like, ‘Oh, wow, we made a great signing. That’s an $8-million player that we just got for six.’”

Conversely, when a manager knows the return for a player will be underwhelming, they'll use the press to help soften the blow. Gillis believes that Vancouver Canucks President Jim Rutherford did exactly that ahead of trading J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers.

“I’m sure Jim (Rutherford) had that deal done before he did the interview. He was setting the table for the return that he was getting.”

However, Gillis wasn’t one of those managers who used the media.

“We didn't use that tactic. Some people used it all the time, they (another NHL team) would phone you and ask you if someone was available, and then you would read about it the next day in the paper that we were shopping somebody. I didn't agree with using the media in those circumstances.”

Like it or love it, the media is a tool that is used by many managers in the league. 

Road blocks everywhere

"Creativity and problem-solving are pretty low in this industry.” - Current NHL Executive

Finding common ground is always a difficult hill to traverse in trade negotiations. Simply finding pieces that fit for both teams is challenging enough for two GMs. Then you have to get ownership to sign off, complete your due diligence on how the player(s) may fit into your culture, managing the cap constraints – whether it's bringing in a third team to eat cap or shifting other players around. 

It's enough to earn more than a few extra grey hairs. 

“There's that old adage that it's really hard to get a deal done in the NHL. Well, if you're not super proactive, if you're not trying to engineer creative ways to execute, then it's hard to get deals done.” One anonymous executive said. 

“But those that are bold.. capable of handling cap gymnastics and problems solving in collaboration, can do it. I think the Rantanen trade showed that. And you don't see that enough in this league because people are kind of limited.”

And then there are the No-Trade and No-Movement clauses. Thanks in large part to that hard cap, teams have been forced into handing out more and more trade protection in deals in order to keep the cap hit down. 

The system in place has made those clauses central in bargaining. And not just for franchise players. Drew O’Connor recently signed a two-year extension with the Canucks. 

He was able to get a 12-team No Trade clause attached.

This is a soon-to-be 27-year-old player whose career highs are 16 goals and 33 points.

It's damn near an epidemic. 

Of the 861 players who have appeared in the NHL this season, 260 have some level of trade protection – right around 30 per cent. But that doesn't paint an accurate picture, because not everyone is entitled to that protection. In order to qualify, players must be at least 27 years old or have a minimum of seven NHL seasons experience.

In comparison, to be eligible to negotiate a no-trade clause in the NBA, a player must have at least eight years of NBA experience and has to have spent at least four years (not necessarily the most recent four years) with his current team. 

He also must be signing a free agent contract, rather than an extension.

The trade protection has complicated matters in an extreme way. The player has his hand on the steering wheel and depending on the depth of their protection can simply dictate circumstances. It puts managers on their heels and others in the driver's season. 

“It really limits what you can do and then it's hard for you to sit back when those clubs know, like, hey, we have the upper hand," one source told Elite Prospects. 

While moving players with trade protection adds wrinkles, Gillis shared just how easy it is to move star players regardless. There are only so many high-end players that nearly everyone is keen to get them. But not-so-keen to pay up. 

“The easiest thing is to get rid of good players. It's laughable. So many teams that are interested in your good players. The offers are many, but they're not good. They're not good offers.”

Finding a way to manage the cap, while maximizing flexibility is a treacherous tight rope to walk. Players know their value and put an emphasis on control. And why not? These are often players with young families who, if they must move, want to have some say in where that new location is. 

All that for nothing?

"The problem is, almost none of them get to the finish line. It's just too difficult to find common ground”

The clamouring for more blockbuster deals is amplified at this time of year. And while it may seem like NHL managers are more risk-adverse compared to their basketball brethren, that's just not the case. At least not according to the people I spoke with. 

“We're constantly trying to improve through trade. Constantly reaching out, or listening to offers. Some of the players that get brought up in discussions would shock you," one manager told Elite Prospects. "The problem is, almost none of them get to the finish line. It's just too difficult to find common ground”

Hopefully through these conversations, fans can acknowledge the difficulty in pulling off a big-ticket mid-season deal. And when one is completed, take a moment to reflect on what must have occurred to get to that point. A great deal of leg work, creativity, patience, and luck.