No-trade and no-movement clauses have become an unexpected topic of conversation in the NHL this summer. A few high-profile trade demands have drawn attention to the fact that the NHL is chock-full of such clauses in a way that other professional sports leagues just aren’t. It’s an issue that many now believe will be addressed in the next collective bargaining agreement.

The good news for the Vancouver Canucks is that, as one of the league’s youngest teams, the Canucks only have a small group of players even eligible for NTCs and NMCs. Players must either be 27 or have completed seven NHL seasons to be eligible. And most of the Canucks are well under that threshold.

That said, every Canuck eligible for an NTC or an NMC has one. Yes, every single one of them. (Unless we count folks like Guillaume Brisebois or Mackenzie MacEachern down on the farm.)

So, we thought it might be a useful exercise to go over said clauses and map out a timeline for when they change, when they end, and what that might mean for the next few years of Canucks transactions.

Current Clause: Full NMC

Changes: To 15-team NTC on July 1, 2029

Ends: 2032

Boeser’s contract, signed just as free agency opened two summers ago, has quickly proven regrettable on a number of fronts. But the NMC, which turns into a NTC in a couple of years, is not really the biggest factor. Some will say that the organization prefers to keep Boeser around as a mentor, and that may be true, but another reality is that the Canucks would have a hard time moving Boeser’s contract in any case, clause or no clause.

It’s three more seasons of that full NMC before it transforms into a 15-team NTC, at which point Boeser’s age might have become an effective no-movement clause, anyway (pun intended).

Current Clause: Full NMC

Changes: To 15-team NTC on July 1, 2027

Ends: 2031

For a player brought into the organization via UFA bidding, DeBrusk didn’t land the sturdiest set of clauses. His seven-year deal was split between three seasons of full NMC and then switches to a 15-team NTC as of next summer for the final four seasons.

Chances seem good that the Canucks and DeBrusk can agree on a new destination before that comes to pass. But if not, they’d be able to offer him up to more than half the league as of next July, at which point a trade becomes almost inevitable.

Current Clause: Full NMC

Changes: None

Ends: 2029

We can probably throw Demko on the same pile as Boeser in that they’d be incredibly tough to move, clause or no clause, and it’s even more true when it comes to Demko. His three-year extension may have been relatively short, but all three seasons are protected with a full NMC.

Suffice it to say that Demko returning to a level of health that would make a trade even possible is the first step here, and it’s a pretty uncertain step. There’s plenty to worry about with Demko long before we get to the clauses in his contract, and a lot will have to change before they become a factor.

Current Clause: NMC with six-team NTC

Changes: None

Ends: 2027

Gallagher is the only Canuck to have one of those strange hybrid clauses. He has an NMC in the sense that he cannot be waived or sent down to the minors without his consent. But he does not have a full NMC, as in the kind that also bars trades, and instead has a comparatively tiny NTC of only six teams.

The Montreal Canadiens allowed Gallagher to pick out Vancouver as his next destination all the same, and one suspects that if the Canucks shop him around at the deadline this year, they’ll show him a similar deference.

Current Clause: Full NMC

Changes: To 15-team NTC on July 1, 2028

Ends: 2032

The clauses attached to Hronek’s contract are probably the most consequential here. He’s made it clear that he has no interest in leaving Vancouver at the moment, and with a full NMC, that’s well within his rights. Many Canucks fans have been salivating at the trade prices paid for other top defenders this offseason, but it seems a Hronek trade will have to wait.

But perhaps not for too terribly long. Hronek’s NMC flips into a 15-team NTC in only two seasons’ time. That makes a Hronek trade by the summer of 2028 far more likely, or maybe even a trade within the 2027-28 season, at which point Hronek would still have the luxury of picking out his next spot.

The Canucks, in other words, will get their chance to cash in on Hronek; they’ve just got to wait for it.

Current Clause: Full NMC

Changes: To 15-team NTC on July 1, 2027

Ends: 2030

Of all the clauses we’ve discussed here, giving a backup goaltender a full NMC when you still had your starter under contract is probably the biggest head-scratcher. Thankfully, Lankinen’s NMC turns into an NTC as of next summer, at which point the Canucks can start to explore their options.

If the Canucks do as many expect them to and run a three-headed goaltending arrangement for 2026-27, then at least Lankinen could be shopped around next summer, ensuring the arrangement only has to last for a single season.

Current Clause: 12-team NTC

Changes: None

Ends: 2027

With all due respect to O’Connor, when people say there are too many NTCs in the sport of hockey, they’re talking about players like him having them. O’Connor had about 29 career NHL goals to his name when he signed this two-year extension. Is that really NTC material?

In any case, O’Connor’s NTC is small at just 12 teams and shouldn’t be too much of a barrier to the Canucks selling him at the upcoming Trade Deadline. 

Current Clause: 12-team NTC

Changes: None

Ends: 2028

It’s a bit surprising that the Canucks were able to land Oleksiak as a UFA on a two-year term with a relatively small NTC. Not that we’re complaining! This sets the Canucks up nicely to move away from Oleksiak if he doesn’t prove to be a good fit, and it especially sets them up to cash in on him as a rental at the 2028 Trade Deadline.

It’s also perhaps an indication that this newest front office might be a little more restrained with their handing out of clauses.

Current Clause: Full NMC

Changes: None

Ends: 2032

Well, this is the big one. Pettersson’s contract came with a full NMC in seven of eight years, and the only reason he didn’t have one in the first year was that he wasn’t eligible yet.

This NMC is not just the longest in the organization; it’s also probably the most consequential. No matter when the team wants to trade Pettersson, whether it be this offseason or anytime between now and 2032, they’ll have to get him fully on board. Some speculation this summer suggested that Pettersson is rather picky about moving and may have only a handful of destinations he’d consider.

If Pettersson didn’t have an NMC, one wonders if he’d have been dealt already.

Current Clause: Full NMC

Changes: None

Ends: 2027

Only two Canucks have a full NMC throughout the duration of their contracts, and it’s Pettersson and Schenn. Thankfully, Schenn’s only lasts for a single year.

There was a little consternation about this NMC when it was signed, because it could get in the way of flipping Schenn at the upcoming Trade Deadline. Then again, one imagines this was part of the deal in getting Schenn to return to Vancouver in the first place.

In the end, it’ll be up to him whether he wants to be a deadline rental or to stay in Vancouver and start thinking about his next career steps.