Hi Fab, it’s your Aussie anon hoping you can answer another basic question…. What are “future considerations” in a trade context? I saw someone say it’s basically giving a player away and I’m wondering why a team would do that? Is it to free up cap space or are they being nice and sending a player where they want to go. (which feels unlikely but not impossible in hockey) Yes, I’m thinking about Gallacher (sp?) from the Habs to Vancouver.
Welcome back Aussie anon! I'll answer this now because of the time difference. But yup, you've got it right. When a team needs to free up cap space they can trade a player to a team that has extra space for "future considerations". In theory it means "hey next time we need something maybe help us out" but it's not enforceable or anything.
Famously, the San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier took on Jake Walman's contract from the Red Wings for "future considerations" (AKA we got him for free). After Walman had a surprisingly decent season, the Sharks then wound up trading him to the Oilers for Carl Berglund and a 1st round draft pick in 2026. That draft pick became our #20, which we traded down to Buffalo for their #27 and Michael Kesselring. The pick was then traded back up to the #21 so we could draft Ryan Lin.
So, to recap, for zero dollars spent, the Sharks acquired Carl Berglund, the rights to sign Michael Kesselring AND we got to draft Ryan Lin. Not too shabby Mike Grier 🤣 This is one of the best deals I've ever seen in hockey.
Thanks for the ask! 💜
