No-Trade Clauses Are Good, Actually
I can’t believe I have to do this, but hockey discourse is being dumb, and I’m going to have to say something that a lot of you are not going to like: you should be siding with players, not management, if you’re a fan. Furthermore, that means not giving a single fuck about whatever “management rights” are (frankly, even the notion of such things existing is an insult to my intelligence). I’m seeing a lot of fans getting really upset with Torey Krug for not waiving his no-trade clause. Here is the tweet that finally pushed me over the edge into deciding to write about this:
There are two sides when it comes to trade: management/ownership and players. It’s quite similar to any workplace, there’s management/ownership (bourgeoisie) and the worker (proletariat). Who needs protection from whom in the workplace? Hint: it’s not management and ownership needing protection from the workers. You, the fan, are far more similar to the players than you are the GM or owner of the team. In fact, I would say the only difference between you and them is that you likely aren’t making millions of dollars and are not likely one of the most fit people in the world. If NHL players had normal jobs, they would be stocking the retail floor or working in a cubicle next to you. They’re just workers doing their jobs, they just get to do it in front of many more people than you the reader get to. These players really don’t have many rights and, like you, don’t get paid what they’re worth as they continually get screwed over by the owners. I mean, look at how the owners are dragging their feet in raising the salary cap, and have their lackeys, General Managers, try to force players to accept less money than market value would dictate. But also, General Managers can just make a player uproot their lives without notice.
Imagine this: you’re working for Starbucks in your home city, and one day in the middle of the afternoon you get a call from your manager. You’re getting sent to work for BIGGBY Coffee in another city several states away. You’re expected to report there for work in two days. Imagine the chaos that would send your life in. What do you do about your family? You’re probably going to have to leave them behind, at least for a while. Where are you going to go live? How are you going to get there at an appropriate time, and that’s in addition to going to go work for a different company states away with entirely different co-workers? This was just so out of the blue, and your mind is reeling. It’s a lot. That’s what it’s like for these players and the types of questions they have to ask, especially if traded in the season. Your entire life and can be uprooted without notice and at any moment, unless you have a no-trade/no-movement clause. If you have a NTC or NMC, this isn’t going to happen (with exceptions when it comes to a NTC). You get to say if you want to uproot your life, which, I think, is something every worker should be in agreement with is a good thing. Wouldn’t you like something like that? Most players in this league have no power, and NTC’s (and the very few who have NMC’s) are the few who have any power and say over their jobs at all. This is all they really have. Why do fans want this little power that only some players get, taken away from them? Don’t you as a worker want more job protections? Wouldn’t you like more of a say at your job? Why are you begrudging other workers for exercising their rights, like in this case? This is a fellow worker, and you’re siding with management. I’m actually astounded by the lack of class solidarity that I’ve been seeing.
Regarding this whole situation, I would say what we should all be hoping for ALL these players to get NTC’s, as in, it becomes the standard, something everyone gets. No player deserves to have their lives pulled out from under them, they should be able to give consent to such huge moves that would impact their lives. The vast majority of players who are signed to NTC’s give their consent to get traded, so please don’t give me this “no one will ever get traded crap.” Trades would still happen, but now players, aka, workers will be able to give consent to uprooting their lives. They understand it’s still a business, after all, and often times players have good reasons for accepting a trade, whether it be a better city for them, more playing time, etc. Some might just want out of that team. Trades will still happen, they’ll just be done in a more ethical way in the future when this hopefully happens.
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