Explaining NHL No-Movement And No-Trade Clauses

Who has no trade and no movement clauses in their contracts –

February 29, 2016, is the NHL trade deadline and in the upcoming weeks, you are bound to hear plenty of trade banter around the NHL and more importantly, if you’re a Coyotes fan lots of trade rumours surrounding some of their pending UFAs.  Mikkel Boedker, Boyd Gordon, Nicklas Grossman, Kyle Chipchura, Viktor Tikhonov, Anders Lindback, and Shane Doan are all pending UFAs this July 1st and one or more of them could be on the move before the Feb. 29th trade deadline.

No-Movement Clause (NMC) and No-Trade Clause (NTC) Eligibility:

Once a National Hockey League player has played seven years or reached twenty-seven years of age (Group 3 Free Agent Status) he is eligible to qualify for an NMC or NTC in his contract.  These clauses can start mid-contract once the player reaches his Group 3 status. (example: in the fourth year of a seven-year deal)

There are basically two types of movement clauses NHL GMs need to pay attention to and/or work around with these players.

The No-Movement Clause:

A No-Movement Clause prohibits a team from moving a player by trade, loan or waivers, or assigning that player to the minors without the player’s consent. This keeps the player with the pro team unless the player approves one of these moves.  The player has the final say.  Some players will often have a limited trade list here as well.   A No-Movement Clause does not restrict a team from buying out or terminating a player’s contract.

The No-Trade Clause:

A No-Trade Clause is much less restrictive.  It only places restrictions on movement by trade.  A player with a No-Trade Clause cannot be traded by a team unless the player provides consent.  A partial or modified No-Trade Clause is often less restrictive than a full No-Trade Clause and depends on the conditions negotiated in the player’s contracts.  Often with these No-Trade Clauses the player is asked to provide a list of teams to which he would be willing to be traded or NOT traded to.  This list can change or fluctuate from season to season. 

This is the updated list of NHL players that have some sort of movement restriction. 

(if I have inadvertently missed anybody please let me know)

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