Was Ryan Smyth traded to the Islanders or simply loaned out by the Oilers? (Source: Getty Images)

I certainly think that Stephen Colbert’s line of thinking would do a world of good to clarify a less than upfront practice that’s become a trend in the NHL;  the trend of unrestricted free agents (UFA) getting traded at the deadline for a bounty of draft picks and prospects only to see them immediately return once free agency opens. Let’s call this what it is: moving an UFA at the deadline isn’t a trade so much as it’s a loan.  In soccer, loans are a normal means of temporarily moving a player off the roster.

Loans in soccer allow players to move when they are buried on the bench unable to crack the starting lineup, burning a hole in the pocketbook of the team, or in need of some game time or just to beat the elements. Striker Henrik Larsson was loaned by his Swedish club over the winter break to English Premiership power Manchester United and flourished during a 3-month run. Sometimes these short term moves even come back to bite the loaner team as was the case when Real Madrid lent out Fernando Morientes to Monaco for the 2003-04 season only to see Morientes flourish topping off his vengeful season with a pair of goals that led to Monaco’s ousting of Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals stage.

In the case of soccer, typically the two clubs will decide on an agreement of how much of a player’s contract will be paid by each club during the length of the loan. So essentially a loan will involve two teams that enter an agreement that sees a player temporarily switch sides for some sort of agreed upon compensation. My question is how exactly does the “temporary” trading of an UFA free agent in the NHL differ from a loan? In the NHL’s case the only difference is that the player is not bound to return to the original team, but recent examples have shown us that there have been several players that have wanted to return.

Blueliner Glen Wesley was one of the first to kick off the trend. As a pending UFA with the “go nowhere at the time” 2003 Carolina Hurricanes he was traded to Toronto for a 2nd round draft pick. He proceeded to play 12 games with the Leafs (7 regular season and 5 playoff games) before become a free agent. After the lifting of the lockout Wesley re-signed with the ‘Canes. So essentially, T.O. gave Carolina a 2nd rounder for the rental of Wesley’s services for a dozen games.

Last year gave us two more examples and interestingly enough the team at the centre of the loans was those same Hurricanes. Enroute to their Stanley Cup run the ‘Canes added a few veteran pieces in Mark Recchi from Pittsburgh and Doug Weight from St. Louis. In both situations the ‘Canes gave up a bounty of prospects and draft picks and in both situations the UFA’s bolted for an immediate return to their previous clubs. Weight hardly made it a secret of his desire to re-sign with the Blues the first chance he was given. Keith Tkachuk, was one of the prized UFA on the trade market this year and after his move from St. Louis to Atlanta he may be following a similar route that his former teammate Weight just traveled. Tkachuk has hinted that he would like to return to St. Louis after his run with Atlanta is over.

The NHL has few rules in place for this type of shading dealing. The last time the NHL had a real issue with any trade was when they were forced to intervene on a deal between Colorado and Calgary during the 2002-2003 season. The Avs shipped Dean McAmmond to the Flames at the March trade deadline. The problem was the Flames had previously traded McAmmond to the Avs earlier in the season and go figure the NHL actually has measures in place to guard against this type of thing. The rule in place states that: 'A player traded by a Club within the four weeks prior to the Waiver Draft may not be reacquired by such Club within the forthcoming season.' The reason this rule is in place is to guard against teams stashing players they would ordinarily lose to the waiver draft.

Let’s face facts, it’s going to be extremely difficult for the NHL to impose restrictions on UFA’s returning to the clubs they were just traded from around the deadline. A clause that restricts player movement would go over with the NHLPA about as well as an invite from Ted Saskin asking his members to become Facebook friends. So since it looks like the NHL is essentially powerless to curb this trend of “underhanded” trades I have to ask: Why don’t more teams adopt this strategy?

The benefits of loaning out players are numerous for non-playoff clubs; your UFA’s have a chance to inherit championship experience, by picking up prospects and draft picks you improve your team for the future and you only have to sacrifice for a short time period. Of course the risk is what happens if they don’t want to come back? How many of us would feel comfortable giving up our significant other for a few months time and then hoping they would come back after they’ve just experienced what it’s like to be wined and dined and fawned over by someone who’s much more of an attractive option?