This afternoon reports from several insiders have come out revealing that multiple teams were given a major warning regarding tampering during free agency. During a recent episode of his 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman spoke about the problem of tampering in the NHL during free agency. For several seasons now players have been signing minutes into free agency which is only possible if agents and teams are in contact before free agency opens. This has led to many accusations of tampering from fans and even those in the media. As a result, the NHL decided to launch an investigation. The investigation ultimately led to a warning from Bill Daly and the NHL that tampering is not allowed and will be punished accordingly. The tampering warning was interesting. As a player, I'd see it as a necessary evil if you're not going to have the free agency dating period. If I'm going to be making a decision about what's best for my family and career, I'd rather stealthily make it with some preparation as opposed to a flood of information and take-it-or-leave-it offers on July 1. What it says to me is the league is looking to punish someone who is overly blatant or not careful (and let's face it, many teams are just as guilty as the agents). But, the league doesn't need a complaint to act. When Toronto signed John Tavares, it was investigated - and cleared - without the Islanders asking. According to reports, this warning came after several deals this summer were linked to potential tampering from NHL teams and players. One of those deals that was rumored to involve tampering was Tyler Bertuzzi leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks. <h3> Blackhawks' potential tampering to sign Tyler Bertuzzi leads to a major warning for GMs</h3> The allegations of tampering in this case come from when Tyler Bertuzzi himself admitted Nick Foligno called him the day before free agency and expressed the Blackhawks' interest in him. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/CHGO_Blackhawks/status/1809325182584012965'> </a></blockquote></div> It seems like for the deals that are already done no punishment will be coming. However, it seems like Bill Daly and the NHL are willing to punish teams going forward after issuing the stern warning. As Bill Daly told me afterwards, more of a refresher, that the league has not talked about or emphasized the rules around tampering for a few years now and he felt now that it was time and I asked him why it was time and he said that he was, quote, a little uncomfortable with some of the commentary in the media reported heading into July 1st last year and gave them the impression that there's been negotiations before July 1st and he just wanted to remind GMs that you can't do that before July 1st and there are repercussions in terms of fines and/or potential loss of draft picks. So we'll see what impact that conversation from Bill Daly had ahead of next July 1st With this in mind, it will be fascinating to see if the process of free agency changes this season. With tampering being watched so closely there is a chance we see significantly less deals done quickly when free agency opens on July 1st.