College sports fans — especially those who root for smaller schools — are frustrated with the a NCAA’s transfer portal.
Lesser-known recruits are increasingly springboarding their college careers by going to smaller institutions and lighting it up, only to transfer to top schools as soon as the opportunity arises.
Although the process is different, the same thing is beginning to happen in the NHL.
More than ever before, NHL players want to sign in “destination” markets — places where the weather is always sunny, where the taxes are low and where hockey stays at the rink, rather than getting bothered by throngs of fans everywhere they go.
It’s not by coincidence that 10 of the last 14 Stanley Cup Finalists have come from cities that fit that exact description, including six of the last seven winners.
It’s one thing to play for the team that drafted you until you hit unrestricted free agency and then opt to sign elsewhere. That’s the player’s right, as negotiated by the players’ association.
But players are starting to command a lot more leverage than that.
The trend began in the summer of 2022 when Matthew Tkachuk forced a trade out of Calgary. At that time, the Flames were a good hockey team — and Tkachuk was a major part of their success.
They led the Pacific Division that regular season, ultimately losing in one of the most entertaining second-round playoff series in recent memory, but it all came crashing down when Tkachuk, a pending restricted free agent, forced his way out.
An RFA is restricted in the sense that his team retains the ultimate right to decide where he goes. The player can sign with any team in the league, but the one that holds his rights can decide to match the contract and keep the player.
Tkachuk indicated to Flames management that he wouldn’t commit long-term to the organization, forcing them to trade him to the Florida Panthers, where he immediately went to three straight Stanley Cup Finals, winning in two of them.
It’s now viewed as one of the worst trades in Flames history — and it’s one that they would not have made if they’d had their way.
Quinn Hughes did a similar thing this past season.
The superstar defenseman, who had two years remaining on his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent (the incumbent team does not have the ability to match an offer from another team), told Vancouver Canucks management that he would not re-sign.
Essentially, the team’s options were to trade him and recuperate assets or keep their captain a little while longer and lose him for nothing.
That’s how Hughes ended up as a Minnesota Wild.
Rumors have swirled for some time now that Brady Tkachuk, Matthew’s brother and the captain of the Ottawa Senators, had intentions to force his way out of Ottawa. He and the Senators had always denied it, but news broke Sunday afternoon that he has been traded to the Panthers.
Now, Dylan Larkin is reportedly doing the same — and this one is more surprising than the others.
The Tkachuks and Hughes are all Americans starring for Canadian teams. A fan seeing one of them out in public would be similar to someone in Boston running into Tom Brady. That much attention can become a negative thing pretty quickly.
Larkin, though, is in a different boat.
He grew up in Michigan, cheering for the Detroit Red Wings. He attended the U.S. National Team Development Program, which is centered in Michigan. He went to the University of Michigan. He was thrilled to be drafted by his hometown team, and he even received the honor of wearing the “C” as the team’s captain.
Even with that many ties to the area, Larkin sees the greener grass elsewhere.
It’s nothing against the players. They’re simply using the leverage they have to put themselves in positions where they’ll be happier, and you can’t fault anyone for that.
But if it keeps happening, the same handful of teams will continue winning and everyone else will turn into nothing more than development programs, just like some of the smaller NCAA schools.
The silver lining
As unhealthy as it is for the NHL to see every championship go to the same few teams, it has already begun to promote improvement league-wide.
A number of teams, including the Canucks, the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars, have recently come out with plans for new practice facilities — and you have to imagine they’ll be state-of-the-art. The Utah Mammoth, likewise, just put the finishing touches on their facility.
Teams are also shoring up their game rinks to provide the best atmospheres possible for both the players and the fans. The Mammoth continue to renovate the Delta Center; the Flames are a year away from unveiling a brand-new stadium; the Senators have plans to construct a new building; the New York Islanders moved into a state-of-the-art building just after the pandemic.
It’s kind of like car companies. If Toyota comes out with a new feature in the Rav4, Honda will respond by not only including that feature in the CR-V, but they’ll also try to one-up it.
It was only a couple decades ago that air conditioning, power windows and cruise control were considered “upgrades.” Now, those things and more come standard in every base model.
NHL teams will experience the same thing.
Teams can’t change the climate or tax obligations of their respective locales, but they’re investing their resources in everything they can control.
It’s unlikely that the improvements stop there, either. In an environment where all the little things count, each team will begin doing everything it can to remain competitive in the field of attracting and retaining players.
