The players are following the rules: Gary Bettman isn’t happy

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
The players are following the rules: Gary Bettman isn’t happy
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

The topic of no-trade clauses is generating a lot of buzz right now.

After all, quite a few players are using them to take control of their own futures and get traded to a team that's a good fit for them going forward.

Naturally, everyone has an opinion on the matter.

Gary “Papa” Bettman, the NHL commissioner, is no exception. And of course, Bettman has come to the defense of the shareholders of the 32 teams (his bosses) by saying that this makes no sense and that if it continues like this, the matter will have to be discussed with the Players' Association.

He had no choice: he can't say the opposite publicly.

 

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I've never made a secret of it: I don't agree with Gary Bettman on this one. Since when do we side with employers instead of defending employees' rights?

But I don't think Bettman, in his interview with Sportsnet, made a strong case for his position.

Basically, he said that, fundamentally, the no-trade clause was established so that a player who signs a contract with a team can play where he wants to play—and where he signed.

But a player who requests a trade gets to play wherever he wants, too, right? And what's that argument even about? #BackInMyDay

I agree with him that this isn't good for the teams or for fan engagement. But the players have to think about themselves, too, in all of this.

Allan Walsh rightly points out that it works both ways: teams try to do whatever they want with players to get rid of them.

We mustn't forget one thing: teams have the right to do what the Red Wings and the Jets did—wait for the right offer. If that means Connor Hellebuyck is at home, suspended, and Dylan Larkin has been stripped of his captaincy… so be it.

These guys are grown men, and they're facing the consequences of their actions. #Accountability

I don't like seeing the commissioner say that the clauses were put in place for reason X and that players shouldn't use them for anything other than the original purpose. I understand he has to defend his position, but he handled it poorly.

Does that mean players can't, under the collective bargaining agreement, do something that Papa Bettman didn't see coming because it really upsets him? Come on…

Is everything you have in your house used only for its intended purpose? Have you never modified something to give it a new use?

As long as management keeps handing out clauses like candy (to the Michael McCarrons of this world), they're going to get themselves into trouble.

It's up to them to hold their end of the bargain and stop getting themselves into trouble.

Right now, it's just the pendulum swinging back… in an NHL where Gary Bettman is getting exactly what he wanted: making “non-traditional” markets attractive to players.


In a nutshell

– Only eight teams remain.

– IIHF: Canada is no longer represented.

– He's not in a good mood after his team's loss.

– He's still thinking about the Habs.

– Reaching an agreement won't be easy.

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