{"id":812495,"date":"2026-08-13T17:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/812495\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T17:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:48:14","slug":"can-an-nhl-offer-sheet-include-a-no-trade-clause-summer-minutiae-for-diehards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/812495\/","title":{"rendered":"Can an NHL offer sheet include a no-trade clause? Summer minutiae for diehards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning to everyone except anyone who was involved in making \u201cThe Love Guru.\u201d If you\u2019re still thinking about hockey these days, you\u2019re a true diehard, and we salute you.<\/p>\n

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\n (Sergei Belski \/ USA Today Sports)<\/p>\n

New Kid on the BlockOilers land another top rookie<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the middle of August and the NHL offseason has ground to a halt, but that doesn\u2019t mean the best teams aren\u2019t still out there adding top young talent. In this case, that team is The Athletic, and the talent is our new beat writer covering the Edmonton Oilers.<\/p>\n

That would be Janson Duench, who made his debut earlier this week<\/a>. My first instinct was to figure out a way to make Janson skate a lap by himself. My second was to invite him to further introduce himself to Red Light readers by answering some questions about the Oilers.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re getting settled into a new beat in a new city, but what\u2019s your early sense of the mood of the Oilers fan base right now? Specifically, is there as much \u201cwe have to win\u201d panic as the rest of the league seems to want to project onto them?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac Duench: \u201cThere\u2019s certainly an uneasy optimism about what the Oilers could be this season with a new coach and plenty of rest. Worries about goaltending remain, which is par for the course in Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think many Oilers fans would tell you a certain degree of the noise surrounding the team is projected from Toronto Maple Leafs fans who want to see Connor McDavid in blue and white. Still, as much as fans ardently believe their captain is in Edmonton to stay, this spring\u2019s first-round exit, combined with the rising age of the core, is enough to make anybody start to sweat. Each year that ticks by only makes the goal less attainable, regardless of McDavid\u2019s contract situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

As you mention in your intro piece, so much of the focus this year will be on Mike Babcock, especially after his sideshow stint in Columbus. There are lots of people waiting for this to explode. But is it really as simple as saying that he\u2019ll be fine as long as he wins?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac \u201cMany long-suffering Oilers fans will be happy with a win-at-all-costs bench boss. For others, no amount of success can augment what they already believe about Babcock.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut as is so often the case in sports, winning is king. I think the fact that McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman were at the genesis of Babcock\u2019s hiring makes this a very different scenario than Columbus. The top dogs are clearly on board with his vision and sold on his track record. The hiring of associate coach D.J. Smith is an important security blanket, perhaps one that was missing with the Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWins will be crucial in October, and if Babcock gets the Oilers on track for another deep run, it\u2019s not that difficult to imagine the storm around him settling down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coaching aside, is this team actually any better than the one that made a first-round exit last year?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcac \u201cEven without any roster changes, it\u2019s possible this team would have been significantly better next season by virtue of enjoying a long summer. No team has more playoff baggage since 2022 than the Oilers (81 games). That\u2019s practically an entire regular season. Throw in the addition of Stanley Cup-winning goalie Frederik Andersen to help stabilize the crease, and full seasons of Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy, and I\u2019m confident declaring this team has improved.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany fans celebrated the departure of longtime stalwart Darnell Nurse and his $9.25 million cap hit, but it bears watching to see if the left side is actually better off. That said, the pieces are in place: Jake Walman is due for a bounce-back season and free-agent signing Ryan Shea is coming off a breakout year in Pittsburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trivia time\ud83d\udca1<\/p>\n

Janson is just the latest top prospect to head to Edmonton, where the Oilers have a long history of finding franchise players and landing No. 1 draft picks. But can you name all of the Oilers in franchise history who have won the Calder Trophy as the NHL\u2019s top rookie?<\/p>\n

Answer at the bottom.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n (Graphic via The Athletic)<\/p>\n

Coast to Coast<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc84 This summer marks the end of Da Beauty League, the Minnesota institution that featured players from the NHL and elsewhere staying in shape and raising money for charity. Joe Smith talked to the beauties who made it all happen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2b50 Great work by Max Bultman and Peter Baugh in running down the Hall-of-Fame status of all of today\u2019s active stars from \u201cthey could retire today and make it\u201d to \u201ccheck back in a few years.\u201d Their list has 15 sure-thing HOFers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc54 Have you had your say in Dom Luszczyszyn\u2019s annual front-office confidence survey<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd2c In the return of The Contrarian<\/a>, I made the case for why Dylan Larkin isn\u2019t a quitter, the puck-over-glass rule is great and the Habs are headed for salary-cap trouble.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc76 Scott Wheeler has released his preseason top 32 ranking for next year\u2019s draft. Get ready to know the name Landon DuPont<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfcb\ufe0f I\u2019ll be honest, I was just about to add all of these exercises into my next workout before Fluto Shinzawa talked me out of it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc6 Who wins an all-time roster battle of NHL stars based on how many Stanley Cup titles they won? Can Alex Ovechkin, Teemu Selanne and Ray Bourque of Team One Cup hold off Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Martin Brodeur on Team Three Cups? Let\u2019s find out.<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f \u201cThe Athletic Hockey Show\u201d tries to fix the Blackhawks and Senators this week, with special guests Mark Lazerus, Scott Powers, Julian McKenzie and me. Watch or listen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0 Hockey Canada announced continued suspensions for four of the five members of its 2018 World Juniors hockey team who were acquitted of sexual assault charges last year. Alex Formenton is immediately reinstated for Hockey Canada-sanctioned events. Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dub\u00e9 and Cal Foote remain suspended. Full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n (Corinne Votaw \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

No Dumb Questions<\/p>\n

We believe that in hockey, as in life, there are no dumb questions. So, if you have something you\u2019ve always wondered about the sport, ask away by emailing us at redlight@theathletic.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Can offer sheets have no-trade clauses?<\/p>\n

When an offer-sheet contract is signed, can it contain provisions other than salary? For example, no-movement clauses or limited no-trade clauses? Or is an offer sheet limited to just salary and term and the way that\u2019s paid each year?<\/p>\n

It may be important because if a matched offer-sheet contract has only money and term, then the matching team is in a much better position to trade that contract at some point. For example, I suspect Connor Bedard\u2019s Blackhawks contract has all sorts of no-movement or no-trade provisions for its five-year term. It was a contract directly with the team. However, does Leo Carlsson\u2019s contract have any such provisions? \u2013 Steven P.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an interesting question, in part because there\u2019s an important detail hiding here that I think a lot of fans aren\u2019t clear on.<\/p>\n

First things first: Steven is right that Leo Carlsson\u2019s contract does not include any no-trade protection. In theory, the Ducks can trade him at any time, aside from the first year. (When a team matches an offer sheet, it can\u2019t trade the player for one year. That\u2019s to prevent them from matching one team\u2019s offer and then immediately finding a better deal with a third team.)<\/p>\n

That said, could Carlsson\u2019s offer sheet have included no-trade protection? Yes. It\u2019s allowed. It just wasn\u2019t part of this particular contract, presumably because Carlsson\u2019s side figured that briefly becoming the league\u2019s highest-paid player was enough of an ask.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the twist that Steven and others often miss: Bedard\u2019s new extension barely contains any no-trade protection either. He has a no-move clause in the fifth year of his five-year deal, but that\u2019s it. The Hawks are completely free to trade him anywhere they want until 2030.<\/p>\n

Why? Because no player can have any trade protection in his contract until he would otherwise qualify for UFA status. That typically happens after a player\u2019s seventh season. So, in the case of Carlsson and Bedard, both of whom debuted in 2023, they\u2019re not eligible for no-trade (or no-movement) clauses until 2030-31. Even if their teams were willing to give them protection before then, the league wouldn\u2019t allow it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an important detail to keep in mind the next time you hear fans bemoaning all the no-trade clauses in the league these days \u2014 especially fans of teams who are often on those lists. \u201cWe can\u2019t trade for anyone!\u201d Well, that\u2019s not completely true. Anyone in the league can be traded anywhere, as long as they haven\u2019t reached the UFA threshold yet. And that includes young stars like Leo Carlsson and Connor Bedard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n (Ethan Miller \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udca1Trivia Answer<\/p>\n

If you came up empty on your list of Oilers who\u2019ve won the Calder as NHL rookie of the year, congratulations: You got this week\u2019s trivia question right.<\/p>\n

Yes, despite having had stars such as Wayne Gretzky, Connor McDavid, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Leon Draisaitl, Grant Fuhr and Paul Coffey, not to mention four No. 1 draft picks in the 2010s, the Oilers have never had a player win the Calder.<\/p>\n

Gretzky wasn\u2019t eligible because of his WHA experience. McDavid missed time to injury as a rookie, which opened the door for 24-year-old Artemi Panarin to beat him out. And of the other players mentioned above, only Fuhr was even a finalist, finishing third in 1982.<\/p>\n

Other near-misses include Jason Arnott (second to Martin Brodeur in 1994), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (second to Gabriel Landeskog in 2012) and Stuart Skinner (second to Matty Beniers three years ago). But they\u2019ve never had a winner.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love Red Light? Check out The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox. Good morning to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-812495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}