- NHL sends 32 teams a tampering reminder after Chicago’s Mikheyev plan
- Friedman says the league drew the line at outside talks without a rights trade
- Read below for the fines and lost picks tied to a tampering violation
The NHL just put 32 teams on notice over tampering, and the Blackhawks are the reason.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman dropped the news on Friday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast:
That memo reminded clubs no contact between pending free agents and other teams is allowed without a rights trade going through first. All of it stems from how Chicago tried to handle pending UFA Ilya Mikheyev.
Chicago made Mikheyev’s negotiating rights available for trade earlier this month after the two sides couldn’t agree on an extension. Friedman explained the angle the Blackhawks were working with.
“They made him available for trade and one of the things that was part of that conversation was Chicago was looking at it like ‘If he goes out there and he doesn’t find what he likes, maybe he will circle back and we will be able to find our own common ground,’” Friedman said.
League brass had no issue with the rights-trade part. Letting Mikheyev talk to other clubs first while he’s still under contract in Chicago is where the line got crossed. Here’s Friedman laying it out on the show:
Friedman walked through what a violation can cost a team.
“Permission for a UFA to talk to other teams is a no no and what they did as part of this is remind everybody about tampering fines,” he said. “The fine for tampering can be up to $5 million and people can be suspended and you could lose draft picks. That’s what they did here.”
Vegas just had an appeal denied on a Tortorella fine and a lost draft pick, so the threat in this memo isn’t theoretical.
Mikheyev, 31, is coming off an 18-goal, 36-point year in Chicago after the Blackhawks picked him up from Vancouver. He hits the open market July 1 if Chicago can’t move his rights first, and the team gets nothing back if he walks.
Word is this one ends with a warning. The next club that tries the same routine is the one that’ll actually get hit.
