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LeBrun: The weight of being trade bait, from Sundin to Giroux to Kane, Toews

One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that we routinely underestimate the human side of things when it comes to the trade deadline.

This isn’t fantasy hockey. It’s real life.

And when we talk about the possibility of certain players moving before the deadline, as obvious as it may be who the candidates are, you might be surprised how it impacts the players involved.

Case in point, Claude Giroux a year ago.

We talked all season about his likely trade out of Philadelphia. He was a pending unrestricted free agent, the Flyers were out of it, and well, it obviously wasn’t in the cards to extend him given where the franchise was headed, and vice versa as far as Giroux looking at the next steps in his career. There seemed to be a mutual agreement that there needed to be a parting of ways.

So for months, we had Giroux trade updates. I know I provided my share, here and on TSN’s Insider Trading, before the deal actually happened, sending Giroux to the Panthers two days before the deadline. It’s a deal that shocked no one.

But it struck me, listening to the veteran forward, now with the Senators, talking last week during his appearance on my podcast with Ryan Rishaug, Got Yer Back, how raw that moment still was for him.

He knew it was coming. It felt like a fait accompli for several weeks. But it was still hard to go through. Obviously, the fact that the trade happened right after his 1,000th game with the Flyers added to the emotions.

Specifically, I was asking him how he thought Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks might be feeling about things as we get closer to March 3 since they, too, have only played for one NHL team — and have the same agent in Pat Brisson. , who will be involved because, just like with Giroux a year ago, both players have full no-move clauses.

“It’s tough, especially when you play on one team your whole career. I always thought I was going to play on one team my whole career,” Giroux said. “And it was at a point where the organization was and where I was — where it was just time. It was tough. That one night when I knew it was going to be my last game, it was my 1,000th game — a lot of mixed emotions.

“I was terrible that game. I couldn’t focus at all. With my teammates and guys I had played with for a long time, I wish it would have been a more fun night. It wasn’t that fun. It was very emotional. Mentally, it was tough. I had a couple of days to relax before the actual trade happened, so that was good. But it was… you played for 14 years for one organization and that’s all you know, it was tough.

“I’m not sure what their situation is (Kane and Toews), but whether you like it or not, it’s in the back of your head and you’re thinking about it every day.”

You’re thinking about it every day. That is often the opposite of what we hear from players in that situation, because naturally, they don’t want to let it weigh on them. But for some players, like Giroux a year ago, it obviously does.

And that’s normal, especially for a player facing their first trade.

It’s also why people should understand when a player decides to use the leverage of his no-trade clause. That’s his negotiated right.

I am reminded of the reaction from so many Maple Leafs fans years ago, when they were angry or at least disappointed that Mats Sundin wouldn’t waive his no-trade clause before the 2007-08 trade deadline, with the Leafs not in a playoff. spot and his contract expiring. It was obvious the Leafs’ roster was headed for an offseason overhaul, but Sundin genuinely couldn’t see himself leaving his team. He was their captain. The whole idea of ​​being a rental player was foreign to him.

I remember covering this story as it unfolded. Interim Leafs general manager Cliff Fletcher asked him on Thursday before the deadline to consider waiving. Sundin took the weekend to mull it over. And on Sunday night, two days before the trade deadline, he delivered his answer, including releasing a statement via his agent.

“I have carefully considered the team’s request that I waive my no-trade clause,” Sundin said in the statement released by JP Barry. “I have always believed I would finish my career as a Toronto Maple Leaf so the actual request was still a very difficult one for me to contemplate. I have spoken to and listened to my family and those closest to me about this issue. In the end, there is no right decision in a situation like this one.

“I cannot leave my teammates and join another NHL club at this time. I have never believed in the concept of a rental player. It is my belief that winning the Stanley Cup is the greatest thing you can achieve in hockey but for me, in order to appreciate it you have to have been part of the entire journey and that means October through June. I hope everyone will understand and respect my decision.”

Good for him. Most players in that position see the excitement in going to chase a Cup on a contender, but Sundin in his heart of hearts could not leave the Leafs in-season no matter what the standings said.

And to Fletcher’s credit, he respected that decision.

“Hey look, when people sign contracts, both parties are happy with it when they sign them,” the Hockey Hall of Fame executive told me that night. “The club was happy to give the player a no-trade contract and the player exercised it — what can you say? It’s the business of sports. So we’ll live with it, we’ll move on and we’ll do what we can to start moving the club forward.”

The point is that the player has the right, with a full no-trade clause, to make that call and doesn’t owe the organization a darn thing. It wasn’t Sundin’s obligation to help the Leafs kickstart their rebuild by becoming a rental player, just like it was well within Giroux’s rights to limit the Flyers’ trade options and ultimately choose really just the one destination he wanted in Florida.

And it’s also why we need to respect whatever Kane and Toews decide to do ahead of March 3. Maybe they want to stay put and wait until July 1 to decide their future via free agency. Maybe they pick one team they’d be willing to go to. Maybe they’re open-minded and allow for a number of teams to enter the fray.

Who knows what they’ll ultimately choose to do? It’s their call.

It’s also a reminder of why NHL front offices shouldn’t be throwing around no-trade clauses like they’re breath mints you get after a restaurant meal. They’re not throwaway items.

In a hard-cap system that has limited players’ compensation, those full no-trade and no-move clauses are important leverage tools for players, especially players in the final year of their contracts.

The Flyers were very respectful of Giroux’s no-trade clause last year. GM Chuck Fletcher didn’t try to exert pressure on the captain to expand his list. But it obviously minimized the return.

And you get the sense that the Blackhawks are approaching this in the same respectful manner with two legacy players in Kane and Toews. Brisson and GM Kyle Davidson appear to be in lockstep as to how this needs to play out, either way.

Meanwhile, if all of this wouldn’t be weighing enough on each player, Kane is out of the lineup right now with an undisclosed injury. It sounds like something he’s hoping to return from soon, but certainly that’s worth monitoring in the event it’s a recurring type of injury and his health could play a factor in his trade deadline decision. As of now, nobody involved seems to think that will be the case, but we’ll see how he fares when he returns.

Brisson has yet to have that deeper trade deadline chat with Kane, which was scheduled to happen sometime this month, and I’m guessing the injury situation puts a bit of a delay on it.

But if and when Kane or Toews does decide to move on before March 3, just remember that while the rest of us will feel like it’s the most obvious thing to have happened, it will probably feel to the player like his world has turned upside down. , regardless of the opportunity ahead to go chase the Cup.

And, if for whatever reason, either player goes Sundin-like and decides to play out his contract in Chicago, hopefully nobody holds that against him. It’s their right.

(Photo of Claude Giroux: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

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