Unexpected No-Move May Cause Problems for Sens in Expansion Draft
Discovery may lead to more players being exposed
The Senators have a mystery on their hands, and one that could create significant complications with the team's planning on who to protect in an expansion draft.
That problem? A no-move clause in the hands of none other than team mascot Spartacat. "We're not even sure who gave him that," said Pierre Dorion. "I can say it wasn't me, but there have been seven other General Managers who could have done it. Was it Bryan? It may have been Mel Bridgman for all we know. Sparty isn't saying. We didn't even know he had one until he came in to my office with a copy of it in-hand. But whoever gave it to him, it's iron-clad."
Shaking his head, the Sens GM added, "what does a mascot even need with a no move clause? It's not like they ever get moved."
How this impacts the Senators isn't entirely clear. President Cyril Leeder says the team is working with the league to try to figure that out. "We're hoping we can get special dispensation to not have to use a spot on our protected list for him. As far as we can tell, he's not even eligible to be drafted through this process in the first place. If we do have to protect him, we would need to know what he counts as. We may be forced in to taking the option of protecting eight skaters and a goalie to fit him on the list."
As for the cat himself, when asked about the possibility of waiving his NMC Spartacat responded by shaking his head while waving his arms back and forth in an emphatic "no way" motion, followed by pointing to a copy of Ontario's Employment Standards Act.
