There may still be hope for hockey fans who watched one of their favorite players get scooped up by the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. The NHL has clarified that teams can make a trade to reacquire a player they lost in the expansion draft (assuming the league believes the two sides didn’t work out a deal prior to the draft), but they will be unable to trade for players who were moved prior to the expansion draft until January 1st, 2018.
Here’s Pierre LeBrun to summarize:
Have confirmed this with Bill Daly just now: There is no blanket rule prohibiting a team from re-acquiring player lost in exp draft already
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 26, 2017
The league just has to be satisfied it wasn't pre-cooked or part of a broader transaction that is attempting to circumvent exp draft rules
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 26, 2017
That second note refers to a team trying to protect additional assets by setting up an agreement with the Golden Knights prior to the draft. The league is allowing deals in which teams traded with the Golden Knights to sway which player the Golden Knights selected, but they won’t allow any in which they feel a trade was made to skirt the rules of the draft.
However, players moved before the draft have to stay where they are until the first of the new year.
The Jan. 1 rule is for players traded to other teams before the expansion draft; they can't be re-acquired prior to Jan. 1
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 26, 2017
So, for example, as it relates to Marc Methot: there is no rule prohibiting the Senators from trying to trade back for him this week…
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 26, 2017
or for Nashville to try and get James Neal back, etc….
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 26, 2017
Thanks for clarifying, Pierre. We’re sorry that you share a first name with one of the most despised analysts in sports.
In other words, the NHL is doing the best they can to prevent teams from trying to game the system. It also means that if the Tampa Bay Lightning suddenly regret trading Jonathan Drouin to the Montreal Canadiens (they might), they can’t do anything about it until January 1st.
It remains to be seen whether or not any teams will try to reacquire a player they lost in the expansion draft, but now we at least know it’s within the rules.
