This is a list of National Hockey League players who have signed offer sheets.
In the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
, players who are restricted free agents can be, after being qualified by their current team, signed by another team to an
offer sheet In North American professional sports, an offer sheet is a contract offered to a restricted free agent by a team other than the one for which he played during the prior season. Different leagues have different ways to handle offer sheets.
NHL
In t ...
with salary greater than the qualifying offer. Teams have seven days to match the offer, and if the offer is not matched, the team making the offer sheet must give up compensation (see
here
Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to:
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* Here Technologies, a mapping company
* Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here
Television
* Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...
for details). Currently to be tendered an offer sheet, a player must:
#Have at least one NHL contract expire.
#Have played at least 80 NHL games if a forward or defenseman, or 28 NHL games if a goalie (applies only for players who have 3 years of NHL service).
#Be younger than 27 on July 1 of that year.
#Be without a contract for the upcoming season.
#Be tendered a qualifying offer by the current team by June 25 or the Monday after that year's
NHL Entry Draft
The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...
(whichever is later)
If any of those conditions has not been met, the player becomes an "unrestricted free agent" and cannot receive an offer sheet.
1988-1994 Restricted free agent classification
The 1988-1994 NHL collective bargaining agreement (CBA) introduced restricted free agency and operated under different rules than subsequent CBAs. Unrestricted free agency would not be introduced until the 1995 CBA. The 1988-1994 NHL CBA had four groups of restricted free agents who were eligible to sign an offer sheet. Since 1995, Group II restricted free agency was the lone carryover with adjusted age and experience criteria.
Signed offer sheets
Related transactions
In August 1994, the
Hartford Whalers
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...
reportedly wished to sign
Glen Wesley
Glen Edwin Wesley (born October 2, 1968) is a Canadian former ice hockey defenceman. Wesley played 13 seasons for the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. He began his career with the Boston Bruins, and briefly playe ...
to an
offer sheet In North American professional sports, an offer sheet is a contract offered to a restricted free agent by a team other than the one for which he played during the prior season. Different leagues have different ways to handle offer sheets.
NHL
In t ...
, however they already had an outstanding offer for
Steven Rice
Steven Rice (born May 26, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played eight seasons in the National Hockey League in the 1990s. Rice was born in Kitchener, Ontario.
Rice was drafted 20th overall by the New York ...
at the time. Instead, Wesley was signed by the
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...
and immediately traded for three 1st round draft picks in the 1995, 1996, and 1997 drafts. The contract was reported to be $1.7 million per season for 3 seasons.
[Dupont, K., "Wesley Now A Whaler Bruins Land Three Picks In The Trade", ]Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
, August 27, 1994, pg 33.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Offer Sheets
National Hockey League labor relations
Lists of National Hockey League players