The NHL Appears to Have Reached a Verdict on the Tyler Bertuzzi/Blackhawks UFA Tampering Case
Photo credit: Bob DeChiara - USA Today Sports
After a lengthy investigation regarding possible UFA tampering of former Maple Leafs winger Tyler Bertuzzi and others over the summer, the NHL has finally rendered his verdict.
It was reported last month that the Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly, had felt uneasy and uncomfortable with the current state of the NHL's free agent frenzy with so many deals breaking before the 12:00 PM (EST) deadline.
TSN's Pierre LeBrun brought it to our attention when he appeared on TSN's Insider Trading in November:
"As Bill Daly told me afterwards, more of a refresher, that the league has not talked about or emphasized the rules around tampering for a few years now and he felt now that it was time and I asked him why it was time and he said that he was, quote, a little uncomfortable with some of the commentary in the media.
Reported heading into July 1st last year and gave them the impression that there's been negotiations before July 1st and he just wanted to remind GMs that you can't do that before July 1st and there are repercussions in terms of fines and/or potential loss of draft picks.
So we'll see what impact that conversation from Bill Daly had ahead of next July 1st."
Reported heading into July 1st last year and gave them the impression that there's been negotiations before July 1st and he just wanted to remind GMs that you can't do that before July 1st and there are repercussions in terms of fines and/or potential loss of draft picks.
So we'll see what impact that conversation from Bill Daly had ahead of next July 1st."
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman piggybacked on this and took to his "32 Thoughts" podcast to add additional information before taking to Hockey Night in Canada a few weeks ago to label the possible penalties and repercussions should anyone come out as the guilty party.
However, it seems after a lengthy investigation, Daly appears to have reached a verdict with no players or teams actively engaging in tampering.
One case in particular was that of Tyler Bertuzzi before he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks on the first day of free agency. He had admitted that the Blackhawks were not on his radar before Nick Foligno called him up to let him know Chicago was interested. Bertuzzi ended up leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs for Chicago after agreeing upon a 4-year deal worth $22 million dollars.
The signings of Brandon Montour, Brett Pesce, and Tyler Toffoli were also looked into for tampering but it sounds like the NHL was content with their investigation after having not found any evidence.
Some may view this as the NHL simply going easy on teams because so many were guilty of following the same trend. However, now that teams have been reminded of the potential repercussions of tampering, I don't think the NHL will go as easy on anyone caught red handed this coming summer.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 11 | 1850 ANSWERS The NHL Appears to Have Reached a Verdict on the Tyler Bertuzzi/Blackhawks UFA Tampering Case Do you agree with Bill Daly's final verdict? | ||
| Yes, no tampering was done | 535 | 28.9 % |
| No, there was definitely something fishy going on | 1315 | 71.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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