After refusing a trade to Anaheim while a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Todd Marchant was subsequently claimed off waivers by the Ducks, with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2007. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Todd Marchant barely had time to get a good night's sleep, let alone assess his debut in the National Hockey League, before he became part of Trade Deadline 1994.

Summoned from the New York Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate, the then 20-year-old centre was immediately put in the lineup by head coach Mike Keenan against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.

"The next morning I was getting ready to go to practice and [Rangers management] told me I was being sent back to [Binghamton]. When I got there, that's when I had 15 messages saying I had been traded to Edmonton," Marchant, now 35, told CBCSports.ca ahead of this Wednesday's 3 p.m. ET deadline.

On March 21, 1994, Marchant was traded to the Oilers in a deadline-day deal for fellow forward Craig MacTavish, who would win a Stanley Cup with the Rangers that season — the team's first in 54 years — and later coach Marchant in Edmonton for two seasons.

"It was a good learning experience for me because this is what professional sports is all about," said Marchant, who's in his third full season with the Anaheim Ducks. "In hindsight, it was the best thing that could have happened in my career. Edmonton was a young team rebuilding. I was a young player and a good fit and I enjoyed 10 great years there."

On July 3, 2003, an older and wiser Marchant signed a five-year, free-agent contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets that included a no-trade clause.

According to thefourthperiod.com, he is one of 99 NHLers with a no-trade clause this season. Others have a no-movement clause in their contracts, which prohibits teams from trading, waiving or sending a player to the minors without their approval.

Marchant refused to waive his no-trade clause in November 2005 when Blue Jackets general manager Doug MacLean, who was told by team management to cut salary, didn't reveal Anaheim was a possible destination for the centre — an admission requested by Ducks management.

'It's a complimentary thing that teams want you, but it's not something you want to deal with. Life is not revolved around change' —Islanders centre Doug Weight

"What is the point of having a no-trade clause if you can't tell me where I'm going?" Marchant wondered.

MacLean subsequently made the trade without Marchant, who was waived twice in the days following that deal before the Ducks claimed him.

"I had no choice at that point. I had to move," Marchant said of being picked off waivers by Anaheim. "Looking back on it now, it was another situation where it was a great move in my career. I'm still here and won a Stanley Cup [in 2007]."

Players weigh many factors

In a perfect world, Marchant would have sat down with his wife Caroline and agent Lewis Gross and asked the following questions: What is Anaheim like? How far is it from Columbus? Will I have to move my family? Where am I at in my career? Are the Ducks a playoff team?

Those were the questions New York Islanders centre Doug Weight pondered in January 2006 while churning along at about a point-per-game pace with the St. Louis Blues, who were out of the playoff race in the Western Conference.

Happy living in St. Louis with his wife and three young children, he was asked to waive his no-trade clause and accept a move to the Carolina Hurricanes, who were dominating the Eastern Conference.

"I went home and talked to my wife, my agent and my father," he told CBCSports.ca, "and tried to weigh all the good with the bad. When you have a no-trade, whether people agree with it or not, you've earned it."

Weight also analyzed Carolina's strengths and weaknesses, its goaltending and special teams play, to determine whether it was a good fit.

He later agreed to the trade, which saw Weight and a prospect go to Carolina for winger Jesse Boulerice, forward Mike Zigomanis and three draft picks.

Doug Weight joined the Hurricanes in a deadline trade in 2006 and recorded 16 points in 23 playoff contests en route to a Stanley Cup victory. (Gerry Broome/Associated Press)

Weight posted 13 points in 23 regular-season games with the Hurricanes and another 16 in 23 playoff contests en route to a Stanley Cup victory over Edmonton.

"It's a complimentary thing that teams want you, but it's not something you want to deal with. Life is not revolved around change," the 38-year-old Weight said. "For a lot of people it's very uncomfortable. It is a great opportunity [to play for a Cup contender], but certainly the day I accepted the trade to Carolina, I was devastated.

"When you're 14 points [out of a playoff spot] and a team offers you a trade to go try to win… you still have to go in that [Blues] dressing room and tell your teammates I waived my no-trade to go.

"At the same time," Weight went on, "you're doing a service to the organization. I brought St. Louis two players and three draft picks. Whoever the picks end up being, it's a good player."

Centre Mats Sundin could have brought Toronto a handsome return at last year's trade deadline — believed to be forwards Chris Higgins and current Maple Leaf Mikhail Grabovski, along with a first-, second- and third-round draft pick from Montreal — but he refused and signed with Vancouver as a free agent last December, leaving Toronto with nothing to show for their franchise points leader.

"I believe, in the last year of a player's no-trade contract, you should be allowed to be traded because now I [as GM] can get something for you while you're still a productive hockey player," said long-time Canadian junior hockey coach Brian Kilrea, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003 as a builder.

"If you're on the [downside of your career] and I can get something for you, let me get something for you to maintain our organization. The [NHL] Players' Association has to look at what's good for the game, and what's good for the game is the strength of the organization and the teams that are in it."

Chiarelli no fan of no-trade clause

General managers such as Toronto's Brian Burke and Vancouver's Mike Gillis won't ask players to waive their no-trade, while Boston's Peter Chiarelli avoids them whenever possible, telling CBCSports.ca they "put a tremendous restriction on GMs around this deadline."

"I think once they're handed out, the player has given up something significant to get that no-trade clause," Gillis said on a recent conference call, adding it would be unrealistic and unfair to suggest a player waive their no-trade to benefit the team.

For those who follow through, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Just ask Weight, who waived his no-trade clause to join Anaheim in December 2007.

He mustered only 14 points in 38 regular-season games and one assist in five post-season starts.

"Anaheim wasn't good for me, and that was a case of not talking to enough people before I got there," Weight said. "If you're going to [lift your no-trade clause], communicate with your teammates, talk to a lot of people that are close to you. You have to make sure you're going to be a good fit with the new team."

Weight, currently out of the New York lineup after spraining the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, doesn't have a no-trade clause and isn't keen on moving to a sixth NHL city.

"But at the same time, you get to this point in the year and start feeling the fever of playoff hockey. Who knows how many opportunities I'll have to play in the playoffs again?" said Weight, who is on track for a late March return. He has collected 35 points in 44 games this season.

Marchant said a no-trade clause doesn't become an issue until management approaches the player, otherwise the focus is on playing the game.

"It is in the back of your mind, but it's out of my control. If [Ducks GM Bob Murray] came to me, I would sit down and evaluate it," said Marchant, who has three goals and 11 points in 54 games this season. "I am happy playing for the Anaheim Ducks and I would like to continue playing for the Anaheim Ducks."

Marchant will know for certain on Wednesday by 3 p.m. ET or shortly thereafter.