Ex-Maple Leafs player Tyler Bertuzzi's new contract subjected to tampering investigation
Recently, former Toronto Maple Leafs player Tyler Bertuzzi signed with the Chicago Blackhawks.
When he signed, many were critical of the fact that he did so pretty much as soon as the Free Agency embargo was lifted.
The embargo happens on July 1st at noon and is supposed to be the earliest point in which teams can talk to players. However, players are typically signed right at noon which pretty much guarantees that teams and players are engaging in tampering.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the league now wants to investigate some of this year's signings for tampering.
"The tampering warning was interesting. As a player, I'd see it as a necessary evil if you're not going to have the free agency dating period. If I'm going to be making a decision about what's best for my family and career, I'd rather stealthily make it with some preparation as opposed to a flood of information and take-it-or-leave-it offers on July 1. What it says to me is the league is looking to punish someone who is overly blatant or not careful (and let's face it, many teams are just as guilty as the agents). But, the league doesn't need a complaint to act.
When Toronto signed John Tavares, it was investigated - and cleared - without the Islanders asking." Some of the signings that are currently under scrutiny are: Tyler Bertuzzi, Brandon Montour, Tyler Toffoli, and Brett Pesce.
Pierre LeBrun weighs in on Tyler Bertuzzi and more alleged tampering
On Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun also spoke about the tampering problem.
" 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."
Needless to say, the NHL really does have a problem with tampering at this point. Although this is something that also happens all of the time in the NBA.
It is simply a virtue of what happens you put deadlines like this on the teams. Moreover, it's not like the NHL can start wire tapping people.
Simply put, this is an issue that can only be solved through penalties.
| POLL |
NOVEMBRE 14 | 151 ANSWERS Ex-Maple Leafs player Tyler Bertuzzi's new contract subjected to tampering investigation Do you believe that the NHL needs to do more about tampering? |
| YES | 133 | 88.1 % |
| NO | 18 | 11.9 % |
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