This year, the first round was only going to be 31 picks. The Senators were due to forfeit their first-round selection as a result of failing to disclose Evgenii Dadonov‘s trade protection when trading him to the Golden Knights in 2021, resulting in a botched trade when Vegas attempted to send him to the Ducks the following season. Now, the NHL has modified that penalty – instead of losing their first-round pick entirely, it’ll be moved to the back of the order, giving them the 32nd overall pick, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.
There are additional restrictions on the selection, the league announced. The Sens can’t trade it for an asset or to move up in the draft order. In the realistic scenario that they don’t make the playoffs, they won’t be eligible for the draft lottery, and a redraw will be held if their number is drawn. They’re also getting fined an additional $1MM in Canadian dollars.
The league took into account that the violation five years ago occurred under a different general manager and ownership. As a result, the Senators “behind the scenes have been lobbying the NHL for quite a while” to reach a resolution that didn’t result in a full forfeiture, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN.
There is precedent for this type of reversal of sanctions. Back in 2010, when the Devils signed Ilya Kovalchuk to a massive 17-year deal that the league deemed to be cap circumvention, the NHL voided the deal and stripped them of a first and third-round pick, along with a $3MM fine. Three years later, when Kovalchuk shockingly retired and walked away from the deal, the league acquiesced in a similar manner when pushed by then-New Jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello. The NHL returned half the fine and gave the Devils the 30th overall pick in the 2014 draft (then the last selection of the round) with the same restrictions applied.
“The Senators subsequently applied to the League for reconsideration and relief from the original penalty, citing primarily the change in Club ownership and oversight which, in the Club’s view, changed the appropriateness of the penalty initially imposed,” the league said in its statement. “After due and thorough consideration, the League has decided that a modification of the original penalty is warranted.”
Well isn’t that nice
Not a Sens fan, but this is on the NHL just as much as it is on the Senators. These contracts are registered with the NHL central registry – the no trade protection should have been well known. Also, Capfriendly at the time had the no trade protection listed while the website was still running, so how the Golden Knights did not know this is beyond confusing.
Can’t blame the new kid for not knowing the schoolyard rules. That’s why
The no trade lists were expressly NOT registered with the league and Capfriendly has absolutely zero to do with it.
It was investigated at the time and determined the Senators apparently didn’t realize Dadonov’s agent had emailed – and the Senators had received – the no trade list prior to the deadline for doing so. When Vegas asked for the list they were told there wasn’t one. Trade protection is not part of the SPC (standard player contract) and it’s been reported agents and the league did not want a “central registry for fear of leaking… a very reasonable concern.
I hope this clears things up. It’s hard for me to see how you think this is on anyone but the Senators.
…so you’re a “new kid” pawtucket?
I guess my question is, why wouldn’t the no trade protection be part of the standard player contract. When it is a partial no trade, typically players have the ability to change their list per season so there is no need for the teams to be listed with central registry. But the fact that no trade protection exists should be something tracked to ensure it is properly honoured – which would have been avoided in this case.
My point about capfriendly is that if a third party source that tracks this information knows a clause exists in a player contract, why would the league or others team not know. It is well known that front offices were using capfriendly before Washington bought them, so you can’t tell me Vegas didn’t have any inkling to push further in confirming – nor did they approach the players agent based on what I have read.
Final point, when a contract is traded, does the acquiring team not receive a copy of the original contract if there are clauses that aren’t part of the central registry? Honest question, seems odd an employer wouldn’t receive this information.
I’m not an agent nor do I work for the league, but I assume why the trade protections are not in the SPC is right there in the name, STANDARD player contract.
As far as Capfriendly goes, they report on info they get from “sources” and those sources do not include any official affiliation with the league. No one from the Senators is calling up Capfriendly to tell them, “Hey, we didn’t get a list from Dadonov’s agent”. They report on the info that is passed to them when the contract is signed or the trade is made, but an actual “list” is not part of that reporting and it’s not due immediately. The fact that Capfriendly’s info was not relied upon is really beside the point. As I mentioned, it was reported that Vegas asked for the list. Someone in Ottawa dropped the ball by not recording that they received the list.
I know fans know best, but every now and then… it is just what it is.
Biggest fear: Canadian players who have all 7 Canadian teams on their 10 team no-trade list.
So don’t have a strong view as I obviously don’t know all the details but this does seem a little bit sus no? Like what is the new info now that they didn’t know back when the penalty was applied.
Why would the Sens number be drawn at the draft lottery? They can’t remove that number from the spinning lottery globe? And what if their number keeps coming up in the lottery?
Make it all make sense.
Correct. Removing a team from the equation affects everyone else’s odds. When Arizona had its forfeited #11 pick in the 2021 draft, it was still included in the lottery draw. If it keeps coming up, they’ll just do more redraws.
Imagine winning the first draw and then dropping back 10 spots in attempt #2!
Hahaha. Sadly (or fortunately) can’t happen that way. It’s two distinct draws now under the newer lottery rules, and only one winner per draw, so nobody else will get affected if the Sens’ numbers get pulled.
This was the obvious outcome all along. And it’s still too much of a penalty for the apparent infraction.
Sens W, might as well get a late 1st than nothing at all
You are breaking the rules. Knowingly. You are hiding it. You get punished. You just say it wasn’t you and, voilà, you are forgiven. Cool. No! The team knew what it was doing and knew what the manager was doing. If they didn’t know, let them punish him themselves, but the peak must be removed