Brad Treliving is doing a great job.

[Ports]

In hockey especially, a GM must NEVER put a player above the team. I mean that, NEVER.

I forget if it was Marner or Nylander but I recall saying I would almost always take 4-5 First Rounders for a player and welcomed another team to put in an offer sheet. The trade value alone to recoup such players would be quite impressive. First Round draft picks are exceptional currency to get players on the cheap, have teams absorb cap space etc.

Now, you can bend for some players, perhaps even bend more than you should, but, you must never break to the point that inking a player puts the team in a worse position by severely restricting their options.

As for the No Move contracts, they should only be allowed with UFAs. No RFA should have a no-trade clause. Also, the league should look at forcing players to choose at min. a "6-7 team trade list". That should be the modified definition of No-Trade. Or, at least demand that a NTC can only be protected at the front end of a contract, not the back end.

Sports is very big business. Players are well compensated and rightfully so. However, it is a team sport so the league must demand that a franchise owner can always put his team first when it comes to restrictions.

Brad should not be shy about talking to Bert and Domi about becoming a core part of the team going forward. No need to reinvent the entire wheel if you have players who can fit in, especially with a new, most likely experienced NHL coach coming in.

When an RFA signs a contract with a NTC or NMC it doesn’t kick in until they’re UFA year which is usually after their 7th year in the league which is how Marner could have been traded before July 1st last year even though there was a full NMC in his contract.