Ducks GM Bob Murray has tough task ahead with 'tagging rule'

Published Jun. 4, 2015 7:45 p.m. ET

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Bob Murray is frustrated, and not just over Game 7 losses.

With the Ducks out of the playoffs, the Anaheim general manager has started looking at free agency. Murray has six unrestricted free agents -- only two key players -- and three restricted free agents to negotiate with in the offseason, but it's a far more daunting task than it might seem.

The Ducks are currently being held back by the "tagging rule" in the NHL's collective bargaining agreement. Essentially, it's a rule that prohibits a team from having more money committed to the next season than the the current season's salary cap. It's not a problem for the upcoming season, but it could be a big problem for the one after that if it's not taken care of now.

Ducks senior vice president of hockey operations David McNab broke it down earlier this week during exit interviews:

"What it really comes down to, it's a combination of expiring contracts and the cap room that you have," McNab said. "That gives you a pot of money. We have a lot of players whose contracts are expiring that don't equal a lot of money. That gives you an amount of money that you can spend on extending players out. Let's say you have $20 million in expiring contracts, you can extend X amount of players by $20 million dollars out over the season. But that's starting July 1, all the way up to next June 30."

There are ways to lose tagging dollars, such as trading for a player with a multi-year contract, like the Ducks did this when they acquired defenseman James Wisniewski, or bringing up a player from the minors on a multi-year contract.

Taking care of tagging problems now is crucial because after next season, several important players are set to become free agents: Ryan Kesler and Tim Jackman will be UFAs, Frederik Andersen, John Gibson, Rickard Rakell, Kyle Palmieri, Jiri Sekac, Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm and Simon Despres will all be RFAs.

"We don't have a big pot of 'tagging' dollars to work with," McNab said. "We have to itemize, figure out what you can do."

The poster child for tagging problems is former Ducks forward Dustin Penner. Anaheim was facing tagging issues going into their last Stanley Cup season in 2006-2007. The issues weren't resolved in time and Penner, a restricted free agent, took Edmonton's offer sheet and the Ducks failed to match it.

With such great talent young talent in the Anaheim system, Murray wants to prevent that from happening again.

"Somebody could try that," Murray said. "We're trying to get ahead of that curveball."

Don't worry Ducks fans: If it's any consolation, the Chicago Blackhawks have far worse tagging problems to contend with once the postseason comes to end.

"It's a word that never gets used, because it's difficult to explain," McNab said. "But it is out there and other teams have it, too."

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