Chicago Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg denies that he rejected a possible trade to the Montreal Canadiens, according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun. The words come directly from Versteeg himself, who told LeBrun that he hasn’t been contacted by anyone regarding a trade.
The news comes not long after a report from Steve Zipay of Newsday, who tweeted that Versteeg had “nixed” a deal between the Blackhawks and Canadiens. It’s known that Chicago is shopping Versteeg, along with Patrick Sharp and Bryan Bickell, before the beginning of the 2015 NHL Draft on Friday night, but the rumor seemed curious given that we had not heard previously about a no-trade clause in Versteeg’s situation.
The forward waived the no-trade clause in his contract with the Florida Panthers to return to the Blackhawks in November 2013. We’ve heard steady reports about Sharp’s limited no-trade clause, but nothing about Versteeg still retaining the ability to block deals.
Versteeg only has a $2.2 million cap hit for the 2015-16 season, but the Blackhawks have little flexibility with the salary cap set at $71.4 million. Trading Versteeg, Bickell and Sharp would save a combined $12.1 million in cap space, allowing the team to pay for raises to Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews while filling out the roster with solid players.
It’s still possible that Versteeg is traded, and it’s unclear whether he actually wields a no-trade clause of any sort. Either way, reports of the Blackhawks shopping him seem widespread enough to believe that’s happening. A rejected trade to the Canadiens, on the other hand, didn’t go down.