NHL commissioner holds court in nation’s capital before Senators-Hurricanes game

OTTAWA –  

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman provided context Thursday on why the league modified the sanction imposed on the Ottawa Senators for their role in connection with Evgenii Dadonov’s trade to Vegas in 2021 and the Golden Knights’ subsequent invalidated deal with the Anaheim Ducks in 2022.

The league punished the Senators with the forfeiture of a first-round draft pick after the Vegas-Anaheim was nullified due to no-trade clause documentation that protected Dadonov from a move to the Ducks. 

Vegas never had Dadonov’s documentation because Ottawa failed to provide it. His contractual preference wasn’t public knowledge at the time as clauses are confidential, partly to protect the player’s privacy.

“It needed to be disclosed, and it wasn’t,” Bettman said at Canadian Tire Centre before the Senators played the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3. “Whether or not it was intentional — or if it was negligent — didn’t matter.”

Last month, the league decided the Senators would not have to forfeit a first-round pick, but would rather have the 32nd pick of the first round in the 2026 NHL Draft and pay a fine of $1 million.

When Michael Andlauer took the Senators’ helm as the franchise’s new owner in September 2023, he made changing the league’s penalty a priority. 

“Michael Andlauer, from the time he closed on the franchise, made it clear to me that this was something important to him in the franchise,” Bettman said. “He understood the need for there to be some punishment.”

Penalizing no-trade clause negligence was important to Bettman so it remained clear to other teams how seriously the NHL takes compliance to its trade processes, but “was comfortable that some adjustment might be fair.”

The league is in discussions with the NHL Players’ Association over changing its system of disclosing information like no-trade clauses in player trades.

“We want to make sure that we don’t have a situation where that information isn’t available to us,” Bettman said.

A NEW HOME

It’s no secret Andlauer and the Senators are closing in on a deal to purchase the land needed for a new arena in downtown Ottawa — less than two kilometres west of Parliament Hill compared to the current arena’s 23-kilometre trek from the capital.

The next step to secure a $37-million 11-acre plot of land in Ottawa’s Lebreton Flats from the National Capital Commission is an agreement with the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation.

“I’m told, as recently as when I walked in the door, things are continuing on a positive track,” Bettman said.

But with ground still unbroken on the new site, let alone officially purchased, Bettman was clear “everybody needs to be patient.”

“But sooner would be better.”

IF IT WORKS, DON’T FIX IT

Asked about the PWHL’s jailbreak rule for shorthanded goals, the commissioner was abundantly clear that when it comes to the NHL rules: “I like what we have.”

Some fans criticize the league’s season point system, namely the single point teams take away from overtime losses — unlovingly known as the ‘loser point.’

Tweaking the current system takes away from what Bettman considers to be “a terrific regular season,” where the final months of the 82-game campaign amount to a “play-in tournament.” 

Bettman cited this season’s number of multi-goal comeback wins as a signifier of an entertaining on-ice product. Heading into the final quarter of the 2025-26 season, 42 per cent of games this season ended as comeback wins.

“That’s pretty healthy from an entertainment standpoint, in terms of keeping our fans engaged,” Bettman said.

RULES APPLIED “PERFECTLY”

Carolina forward Mark Jankowski’s overtime winner in Game 2 was called back after a league-mandated review determined there was a missed offside call. 

But adding another wrinkle to the play, Jankowski buried the nullified goal on a delayed penalty — Jordan Martinook was fouled by an Ottawa defender on a breakaway 30 seconds earlier.

Although the referees verified the offside call, they didn’t void the Senators’ breakaway infraction.

Bettman reasoned that calling a goal back for an offside is not effectively erasing everything that comes after because “there are no freebies on penalties.”

Martinook was awarded a penalty shot, which created enough confusion that a considerable number of fans left their seats as if the game was already over.

“The hockey operations and the officials applied the rules perfectly,” Bettman said. “While I know, at the moment, there was some confusion.”

Fittingly, it was Martinook who eventually buried a valid winner in the second overtime to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 series lead heading into Thursday’s Game 3.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.