We’ve all been there. A big trade starts being talked about and it looks like the deal is almost done and then nothing happens for a while. We come to find out that one of the players involved in the proposed trade has an NTC/NMC (No Trade Clause or No Movement Clause) and either is trying to be reached to get it waived or has refused to waive it. Of course, that is completely their call and they have every right to refuse a trade to a team they’ve said they don’t want to go to, it is something negotiated between the player, well most likely their agent, and the GM of their team. But it seems like NMCs and NTCs are way too prevalent in the NHL, especially as of late. How does the NHL compare to other leagues?
Other Leagues
NBA
The NBA is a pretty easy one to look at. This past 2022-23 season saw only one player in the league have an explicit No Trade Clause in their contract, and that was Bradley Beal, formerly of the Washington Wizards. He was the first player in four years to have such a clause and is only the tenth in NBA history to have one.
Now, the more confusing part. Some players are given the ability to veto trades but under specific circumstances. First, players who were offer-sheeted but the offer was matched. There was only one player that applied to this season. Second, if a player signs a one-year contract or a two-year contract with an option year, they are also given trade protection. This does not apply to two-way contracts. There were 16 players who fell under that category this past season, including the Sixers’ own James Harden. Four of those players did end up getting traded.
All in all, 18 players had protection against trades this past season in the NBA, with an average of .6 players on each team having such protection.
MLB
In the MLB, they have a rule called the “10 and 5 rule” where a player that has 10 years of experience and at least 5 years on their current team automatically gets the ability to veto trades, which leads to many players not getting explicit no-trade clauses in their contracts. Even with that, about 35 players in the MLB have a no-trade clause in their contracts. That averages out to just over 1 player per team having a no-trade clause in their contract, though, as of April 13, 2023, only 12 players in the league had the “10 and 5” rule active with 8 more able to get it after this season.
NFL
The only players I know that have no-trade clauses in their contracts at this current moment are Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, Josh Allen, DeShaun Watson, Russell Wilson, and Patrick Mahomes. I’m sure there are more, but that’s all I could find in terms of players that have one right now. Back in February of 2021, nine players had such clauses, so taking all that into consideration, no-trade clauses are pretty rare in the NFL and it appears that on average there is one player per every three teams in the NFL to have a clause like that in their contract. In fact, Jalen Hurts is the first Eagle to ever have such a clause.
NHL
I won’t include players that have them but are on LTIR and their career is either officially over, or there is a real possibility that their career is over, and a couple where the details of their contract aren’t all out there (Pierre-Luc Dubois and Evgeni Dadonov). There are five players on LTIR who have retired or face the possibility of needing to retire due to injury that has any kind of NMC in their contract. That list is Carey Price, Brent Seabrook, Jake Muzzin, Robin Lehner, and Bryan Little. There is also Chris Driedger of the Seattle Kraken, who has a modified no-trade clause but is in the AHL. With that all said, there are 203 contracts in the NHL with some sort of clause limiting where they can be traded or needing their permission to be traded. That’s an average of more than six players on each team. Arizona has the least amount at one, excluding Bryan Little, while Seattle has the most at 13, including Chris Driedger. Granted, four of the players on Seattle were signed to those contracts from their previous team, which means they’ve given out nine which ties them with St Louis who also has given out nine contracts with a movement-based clause (they have 10, but one is Kevin Hayes who signed his contract in Philly). Arizona’s lone NTC belongs to Nick Schmaltz.
Note: these are only numbers for contracts that are signed through the upcoming 2023-24 season.
The NHL obviously has a huge problem with the number of contracts that have no-trade clauses. They have an average of about 6 times the amount of contracts with such clauses per team than the next highest league, MLB. This creates a trade market that is hindered by an abundance of players able to say no to a trade and completely destroy a trade that would benefit both teams. Of course, it is their right to exercise that clause, and as much as it sucks to have one player destroy an entire blockbuster trade like we saw recently with Krug not wanting to waive his NTC to come to Philly, it is the general manager that agrees to these contracts and is fully aware of the ramifications of these clauses. There is the possibility that the number of such clauses has seen an increase due to the inability of NHL GMs to give more money to a player due to the pretty much flat cap and security like that that adds value to a player’s contract.
By Noah Caplan (@Phlyers24)
Photo credit: Winnipeg Hockey Talk
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