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The National Hockey League appears intent on holding the 2020 NHL Draft in early June, before the end of the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs, based on a memo sent to clubs on Friday in advance of a virtual meeting of the NHL Board of Governors on Monday.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the NHL is proposing the use of team’s point percentage to determine the order for odds for the 15 clubs that qualify for the draft lottery and the 16 non-lottery teams, as well as changing the lottery format for this season only and allowing one team to win and move up pick a maximum of four spots.
For trades that have conditional picks that involve playoff implications, the league is providing their own solution to these deals and giving the two clubs a week to negotiate and come up with their own solution or accept the NHL’s idea.
For the Leafs, the deal last June that sent Patrick Marleau to Carolina and by connection the trade that involving Brady Skjei from the NY Rangers to the Hurricanes would fall under this.
Toronto dealt the veteran winger to clear his $6.25 Million cap hit for this season for a conditional first rounder. If the Leafs pick ended up in the top 10 of the 2020 Draft, then they would keep it and Carolina would receive their 2021 pick.
When the league paused, the Leafs had 81 points (36-25-9 – 12th in the NHL). Based on the draft slots being determined on point’s percentage, Toronto would have the 20th pick and the conditional aspect of the deal would be satisfied to allow the pick to go to Carolina, while the Canes 21st overall selection would go to New York (as the lower of their two first round picks) for Skjei.
However, the Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun indicates that clarification may be needed on whether the Leafs and Hurricanes could re-negotiate the conditions involving Toronto’s pick or if the fact that it is not in the top-10 is sufficient.
In spite of not being mentioned in the memo, other deals that included conditional picks based on a player’s performance or re-signing with the club may also need to be addressed.
The Leafs made two such deals in February; a minor trade with Ottawa swapping forwards Aaron Luchuk for Max Veronneau and the deal with Los Angeles that sent Trevor Moore to the Kings for goalie Jack Campbell and winger Kyle Clifford.
The deal to acquire Campbell included a conditional 2021 third round pick that would be upgraded to a second rounder if either Clifford re-signs with Toronto or if the Leafs make the playoffs this season and Campbell wins six regular season games.
At the time of the pause, Campbell had a 3-2-1 record and with only one set of back-to-back games left on their schedule, it is unlikely that the backup would have started more than two of the remaining 12 games with a tight playoff race for third in the Atlantic.
It is possible that Dubas and Kings GM Rob Blake choose to assign the condition to just whether Clifford re-signs after the season or simply agree on a third round pick in 2021.
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