The St. Louis Blues have made moves in net, up front, and on the blue line this offseason. Along with bringing in a few new faces, Doug Armstrong and the Blues waived defenseman Nick Leddy earlier this month.
Leddy is now in the final year of his four-year, $16 million contract. He had a full no-trade clause in the first three years which switched to a modified-no-trade clause as of July 1.
By waiving Leddy, the San Jose Sharks had first dibs at the veteran defenseman and they claimed him off waivers. There were no rumors about Leddy going to the Sharks, especially none about him blocking a trade there, prior to him being waived.
However, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, one player was unhappy with how the Blues handled the situation.
"I got a call from a player who was upset at the Leddy situation," Friedman shared on this week's 32 Thoughts episode. "Doug Armstrong wanted to lighten the load on his defense, he wanted to move some pieces around, and Leddy was able, by his contract, to block a trade to San Jose. But he did not have a no-move clause anymore, so they could put him on waivers, and San Jose claimed him."
"There was a player who called me about it, and he was upset about that," Friedman continued. "This particular player was kind of bothered that that end-around still existed."
While this anonymous player is upset, Leddy is going with the flow.
"I understand that Nick Leddy, he's not complaining about it. I've heard he's got the right attitude about it, which is 'OK, this happened. When I wake up in the morning am I still in the National Hockey League? Answer: Yes. Am I still making a very good salary, $4 million? Yes. So what do I have to complain about here actually?'
"100%. I completely agree with that. I like people who think like that. I think that's the way you have to move through life. But there was one player who called me and said he just didn't like that that is still allowed to happen. By the letter of the law, what happened to Leddy was completely allowed to happen. He just was bothered by it, and I wanted to shout out Leddy for having the right attitude about it."
We've heard fans and media complain about players exercising their no-move or no-trade clauses to block a trade. While this player's viewpoint is understandable, a full no-move clause is something that players can negotiate for and are within their right to exercise if asked to waive it.