Inside the NHL: Dadonov trade mess might spark change, playoff salary cap on the table and rethinking the Norris race

MANALAPAN, Fla.—Imagine being Evgenii Dadonov these last few days.

Traded last Monday from Vegas to Anaheim despite having the Ducks among 10 teams included on his no-trade clause last summer. Returned to the Golden Knights Wednesday when the NHL invalidated the deal because it determined his limited no-trade clause wasn’t properly complied with. Celebrated as the hero Saturday after scoring the overtime winner against Chicago, extending his goal streak to four games in the process.

And there’s still the possibility Vegas could move him or someone else to relieve a squeezed salary-cap situation — a move that would end that player’s season since it would be made after the trade deadline.

How the whole Dadonov affair went down will be a topic of conversation as NHL general managers gather for their annual March meeting Monday and Tuesday at the Eau Palm Beach resort.

It could also turn into an actionable item if the NHL determines a more centralized and standardized procedure needs to be put in place governing no-trade clauses.

What’s clear in this particular case is the player did nothing wrong. Dadonov’s representative submitted the list of 10 teams to which he couldn’t be traded before July 1, and the player got dealt from Ottawa to Vegas on July 28.

There was no issue there because the Golden Knights weren’t one of those 10 teams. But for whatever reason Vegas wasn’t made aware of the player’s list and ended up making the deadline deal with the Ducks involving him that was later cancelled.

Perhaps the NHL will share more details on how exactly that breakdown in communication happened during the GM meetings. That could be an important part of establishing safeguards to ensure something similar doesn’t happen again down the line.

No league wants to make a habit of approving and later cancelling transactions.

What the Dadonov case appears to shine a spotlight on is a rather loose setup. Players and teams are free to negotiate no-trade language on their own in a contract and lists like the one Dadonov submitted are only ever shared between the agent and club.

The NHL doesn’t maintain a database of them all. Perhaps they or the NHL Players’ Association will be called on to do so in future.

It’s in the best interests of everyone here to ensure that Dadonov’s wild week is one of a kind.

More GMs

The other juicy item expected to be discussed in Florida is the possibility of extending the salary cap into the playoffs. There’s a group of GMs who have an issue with the way long-term injured reserve has been used to build a roster that exceeds the cap ceiling for the most important games of the year.

Fundamentally, the NHL hasn’t objected to this because players aren’t paid during the playoffs. The cap — now $81.5 million (U.S.) — was originally established to fix costs in the league and ensure players and owners split revenue evenly.

It’s unclear if this particular discussion will result in a tweak or change to the system coming out of these meetings, but that doesn’t make the fact it’s being talked about any less interesting.

Half the league is making use of LTIR at the moment. And the Tampa Bay Lightning won a Stanley Cup last summer with a $90-million roster after activating star Nikita Kucherov for Game 1 of the playoffs following hip surgery.

One idea expected to be tabled is limiting the roster a team can ice in any given playoff game to the salary-cap ceiling from that regular season. That isn’t without its pitfalls, however.

For starters, it could theoretically create a set of circumstances where a team was unable to ice a full roster in a playoff game. That happens from time to time in the regular season due to cap challenges, but isn’t ever an issue during the post-season.

We’ll see where the discussion goes in Florida.

As for other agenda items, there will be updates on planning for the 2024 World Cup of Hockey and the IIHF and CHL player transfer agreements. The NHL’s hockey operations department is expected to engage GMs in a discussion on coaches’ challenges in what will be the first face-to-face meeting for managers since March 2020.

They’d like opinions on if the challenge system is working as it was originally intended.

#AskCJ

Is the sky really falling in Leaf land, or are fans taking the recent skid a little too seriously? It seems there are some really reasonable arguments on either side of the debate.

@GalenNHarris

Everybody does seem to be on tilt these days, especially considering we’re still looking at a team on pace for the most points in franchise history. While I understand concern over the goaltending, not to mention all of the mounting frustration from playoffs past, sometimes a little more perspective is in order.

Do you see a scenario where the Leafs have (Matthew) Knies and (Nick) Abruzzese for the playoffs?

@migoo28

I could definitely see that happening. Kyle Dubas was mindful to keep enough contract slots open to be able to sign those two draft picks out of the NCAA, and he’s already got Abruzzese’s signature on an entry-level deal. Now, how much immediate action they’ll see in the NHL? That’s still to be determined.

Do you think Martin St. Louis will come back next year as the Habs head coach?

@sickyvstheworld

At this point it would be stunning if St. Louis didn’t return as Montreal’s full-time head coach. He was in pole position from the day he was hired on an interim basis and the fortunes of the team have changed dramatically since he took over.

Thoughts on Pittsburgh’s deadline and how they will fare in the playoffs this year? Can they win? What chances r u giving them? I feel the Pens and Crosby are under the radar all season and not been talked about enough.

@JiayuDUDU_Wang

I loved the Rickard Rakell trade for Pittsburgh. Adding a proven goal-scorer to that lineup should make them more dangerous as a playoff opponent. Still, I’d place them as a long-shot Stanley Cup contender because of who they’ll have to go through to come out of the Eastern Conference. People are sleeping on them, though, and Sidney Crosby is having a fantastic season.

If you were granted commissioner for a day, and your changes couldn’t be reversed, what’s the first/most important thing you would address with the NHL? Could be anything with the CBA, rules, officiating, anything.

@USNShoffner

Since this is a highly theoretical exercise, I’d do something I wouldn’t ever expect Gary Bettman to do: Install a soft salary-cap/luxury-tax system similar to the one used in the NBA. That kind of system allows big-market teams to chase star players and creates more excitement for the league because there are fewer restrictions on transactions. The NHL’s hard-cap system has taken some of the life out of the trade and free-agent markets, especially since the cap ceiling has been stagnant during the pandemic.

Does the NHL have independent doctors to monitor players on LTIR? Do they check monthly or are teams on the honour system?

@CaperMalcolm

The league has in the past investigated the circumstances around players placed on long-term injured reserve. In the case of Joffrey Lupul, to name one, they even required an independent medical evaluation. That’s not done in every case, but it can happen.

Froot Loops or Apple Jacks?

@Predwin14

Neither. If I’m eating breakfast out of a bowl it’s going to be oatmeal.

Tidbits

The NHL is projecting the salary-cap ceiling to rise to $82.5 million next season … Jake Sanderson burned the first year of his entry-level contract by leaving the University of North Dakota to sign with the Ottawa Senators on Sunday … NHL teams are keeping a close eye on Andrei Kuzmenko, a 26-year-old Russian winger who has 11 points in nine playoff games with SKA St. Petersburg and intends to play in North America next season … Kuzmenko officially becomes a free agent on May 1 and will have no shortage of NHL options … Among the NCAA free agents attracting NHL interest is Western Michigan University goaltender Brandon Bussi … The Max Domi trade to Carolina was filed to the NHL at 2:59 p.m. ET — less than a minute before last week’s trade deadline … Sunday’s game between the Leafs and Panthers might have been a first-round playoff preview. They entered the night on course to play one another.

C.J.’s Top Five

The NHL’s major meetings are almost always held in sunny locales. Purely for fun, here are the top five places we’d love to see the GMs or board of governors gather in future:

1. Cobourg

Could there be any more welcoming spot than Ontario’s feel-good town?

2. Austin, Texas

A sneaky fun city and hidden gem on the AHL circuit.

3. London, England

Hey, the NHL has hosted regular-season games there before.

4. Yellowknife

A recent host of CBC’s Hockey Day in Canada and a great place to see the northern lights.

5. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Come for the nightlife, stay for the in-depth hockey discussion.

Parting thought

The race for the Norris Trophy is going to be extremely difficult to call this season. While it looked early on like Cale Makar or Victor Hedman would be deemed the league’s greatest all-around defenceman, it’s impossible to ignore the charge Roman Josi is mounting. He’s now on pace for a 100-point season. If he gets there, Josi will be getting Hart Trophy votes in late April as well.

Chris Johnston writes about sports for NorthStar Bets. NorthStar Bets is owned by NordStar Capital, which also owns Torstar, the Star’s parent company. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterchris