Bernier to Anaheim for a conditional pick.
https://sports.vice.com/ca/article/down ... c-bergevinQuote:
But last week, the Maple Leafs traded Jonathan Bernier to the Ducks for a conditional draft pick. That's the league's biggest market, trading away a guy who went into last season as their unquestioned starter. It's not a blockbuster by any stretch, but it's no minor deal. And yet nobody has any clue what the conditions are, or what picks might be involved. Is it a first? A seventh? For next year, or down the line? And what happens if the conditions aren't reached? Worse pick? No pick at all? This stuff kind of matters. You can't evaluate the trade without this information. And yet, we don't have it.
Needless to say, this is pretty much standard procedure. "Conditional pick," we're told. "Um, can you be more specific?" we ask. "No, but keep handing over your money you dumb suckers," says the NHL, and then it laughs and laughs. (For 15 minutes, at which point a media insider inevitably spills the beans. But they're all vacation now, which I will remind you should never be allowed.)
And yes, we can probably guess what's happening in this particular case. The Leafs made another trade with the Ducks just last month. It sure looks as if Bernier was actually part of that deal, and the two teams waited until his July 1 signing bonus had been paid by Toronto before making things official. The "conditional pick" here is almost certainly nothing at all, and the Ducks and Leafs are just gaming the system. But there's no good reason they should be able to without at least admitting it publicly, other than that everyone else does, all the time, because that's how this league works.