Can we just stop?! Please!

The amount of nonsense around the NHL and hockey in general is mind-boggling. We have GMs and Agents fighting through the media, debates over no-trade and no-movement clauses, people calling for GMs and coaches to be fired, salacious rumors and a construction problem that has lingered for FAR too long. That about covers everything, right?

By the way, none of this is new. The names, faces and locations may change, but most of this is par for the course during an NHL season. So, let’s dive in and address what we can without losing our minds. 

For starters, the New Jersey Devils, who are often unfairly compared to their cross-river rivals, the New York Rangers, are currently doing their “best” to mimic the Blueshirts’ mistakes. We saw last season how a stubborn GM (Chris Drury) can sink a team’s season, even without meaning to. Drury alienated a trio of his team’s leaders (Barclay Goodrow, Jacob Trouba, and Chris Kreider), thus leading to his team falling apart, in no small part, because of its inability to drown out the distractions and keep its problems in-house. 

This season, especially this past weekend, New Jersey’s GM Tom Fitzgerald pulled off his “best” Drury impersonation. First, Fitzgerald has avoided the media since late October/early November. Then, Head Coach Sheldon Keefe announced he was healthy-scratching Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton’s agent was reached for comment by Pierre LeBrun (as well as by several local writers) and issued a statement blasting the team’s handling of the situation. Then, Fitzgerald issued a statement through LeBrun – his first public comments in months – which further escalated things. 

As it turns out, Fitzgerald, like Drury last season and like other GMs, decided he doesn’t want to abide by Hamilton’s modified No-Trade Clause, as he wants to trade the defenseman to teams the veteran doesn’t want to go to. So, now the veteran D-man is being healthy scratched until he waives his protection (even though he did draw in on Monday night against the Wild after the Devils decided they didn’t want to push Simon Nemec too far as he works his way back from an injury). 

This public spat between the player, his agent, and the team is nothing new. It happens around The League every year. However, there was no reason for this to become public, which is the case in 99% of these situations; this has led to hard feelings on both sides. 

Speaking of which, let’s stop complaining about players’ No-Trade and No-Movement Clauses. These are clauses that the players have earned and fairly negotiated for. Should GMs perhaps be a little more conservative when including them in contracts? Maybe. But if a player really wants one and the team really wants that player, well then…

This is why it’s ridiculous that GMs are playing hardball in an attempt to force players to waive their protections. You’re never going to come off looking like the good guy in these situations and word will and does get around The League when players feel their team’s GM isn’t giving them the proper respect in these situations. It’s a lose-lose situation and one that should and can be avoided. 

We’re not going to discuss the rumors out of Ottawa, other than to say that, sadly, this isn’t the first time that scandalous claims have been made, during an NHL season, regarding a player or players’ personal lives. Just stop. As long as nothing illegal is going on, then it doesn’t need to be discussed. And while we give credit to Ottawa’s PR staff for trying to do something about the rumors, they didn’t exactly go about it in the right way. Let’s try to remember that players are people too and move on. 

What we won’t move on from is the news out of Italy, where the Olympics are due to start in less than a month and the ice hockey arena, as well as the practice facilities, are still under construction and nowhere near ready. The test event may have “calmed” some people, but most remain skeptical about the whole situation, with The NHL being rightly furious over the matter. This whole situation has been mismanaged by The IIHF and IOC to such a large degree that it’s no wonder The NHL is pushing hard to have more control when the Winter Olympics return in 2030. 

So, please, just stop with all the nonsense. Leave it all on the ice and keep things private that should remain such. And as it pertains to Olympic construction, the clock is ticking.