How does the hockey trading system work?
From a legal standoint, it’s the contract that is traded, especially in the salary cap world. There are currently several steps in the trade process 1) 2 or more teams get together to talk trade 2) A trade is agreed upon 3) The NHL holds a call with the management of the teams involved, and the agent(s) representing the player(s) 4) If all is in order (agents have no exceptions, the trading of the contracts doesn’t put one of the teams into salary cap trouble, etc), then the trade is approved by the league.’ Take a look at a website called nhlnumbers.com and look under New Jersey. You will see a cap hit for New Jersey of 2+ million for Ilya Kovalchuk, while his salary is 7+. That is because New Jersey is only responsible for what’s left of the contract…but they’re responsible for the contract nonetheless. One of the words you hear a lot now at the trade deadline is the word ‘rental’. A ‘rental’ is a player who’s contract ends at the end of the season he’s traded, so the team that rec
