waivers (NHL)
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Waivers is a
National Hockey League 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 ...
(NHL) labor management procedure by which an NHL team makes a professional
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player's contract and rights available to all other NHL teams. Other NHL teams "waive" any claim to a player designated for assignment in the
American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
(AHL) or designated for release. The process is typically referred to as "being placed on waivers." It is similar to the
designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...
process in
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
.


Minor league assignment procedure

In the NHL, each player signs what is, or is a variation of, a standard NHL player's contract. The contract specifies that the team has exclusive rights to the player playing in the NHL. Once an NHL player has played in a certain number of games or a set number of seasons has passed since the signing of his first NHL contract (see
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), that player must be offered to all of the other NHL teams before he can be assigned to a
minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
affiliate. In the 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) assignment waivers applies only to loans from an NHL club to its
American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...
(AHL) affiliate. After a player has been designated for assignment, the other 31 NHL teams can put in a claim or waive their claim for that player. The claims process starts at noon Eastern Time and ends 24 hours later. If only one team makes a claim for the player, then he will be transferred to the claiming team. If more than one team makes a claim, then the player will be transferred to the team having the lowest percentage of possible points in league standings at the time of the request for waivers. When a waiver claim has been secured, the claiming team must pay a
transfer fee Transfer may refer to: Arts and media * ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović * ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film * ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies ...
to the original club, though this fee is not counted against the salary cap. If waivers are requested outside the playing season, or before November 1, then the player shall be transferred to the team with the lowest points in the preceding season. If no team places a claim, the player can be sent to a minor league affiliate. During the 2020–21 season, a player that cleared waivers could be assigned to his team's
taxi squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...
, which was intended to allow a team to have enough players to play in the event of
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issues. When a player clears waivers and is sent down and then is called up again, he does not have to clear waivers to be sent down again unless he has played ten games or has been "up" for 30 days.


Re-entry waivers

The 2005 NHL- NHLPA
collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
(CBA) introduced "re-entry waivers." With limited exceptions, any player who was subject to waivers before assignment to the minors must clear re-entry waivers before being called back up if said player is on a one-way contract or a
two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...
with an AHL salary in excess of $105,000. Exceptions are players who have played in over 320 professional games (180 for goaltenders) and have not spent more than 80 games on an NHL roster in the past two seasons or 40 games during the previous season. The procedure to make a claim on re-entry waivers is the same; however, teams who claim players on re-entry waivers are only responsible for half the salary and cap hit, while the original team is responsible for the other half, unless the claimed player is later assigned to the AHL again before his contract has expired, in which case the salary and cap hit comes off the books of both teams. The CBA ratified in January 2013 eliminated re-entry waivers.


Return waivers

Players who play ice hockey outside North America during a regular season and who are not on loan from or whose playing rights are not already owned by an NHL club (that is, the player is not already on a team's 90-player reserve list such as a qualified restricted free agent or a draft pick) must also be placed on waivers if they are signed to play in the NHL. If the player is picked up by another NHL club on waivers, the player must be placed on waivers again before a further trade or loan can take place.


Unconditional waivers

A third type of waivers, "unconditional waivers," applies when a player is to be given an unconditional release from his contract, either by buyout or for the purpose of contract termination. A team may terminate the contract of a player for breach of contract at any time. Additionally, a player and team may mutually agree to terminate a contract at any time. This process can only be completed if the player clears unconditional waivers. In order to buy-out a player, NHL teams give notice to the player and the league that they intend to buy-out a player's rights under the terms of the CBA by submitting the player through unconditional waivers. These waivers can only be requested during two periods: # Between June 15, or 48 hours after the conclusion of the
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series if it ends later, and June 30 of each year. # If a club has team- or player-elected salary arbitration cases, within 48 hours of the last arbitration award or settlement of the last arbitration case prior to the arbitration hearing. Such a player must have been on a club's 90-player reserve list at the previous trade deadline.


Use of waivers in salary cap era

Salaries of players playing for an NHL team count against its
salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
, while the salaries of players playing for a team's minor league affiliates do not. NHL teams have waived players with high salaries, thereby freeing up salary cap space for other signings. In 2010,
Wade Redden Wade Redden (born June 12, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and a development coach of the Ottawa Senators, with whom he spent the majority of his career in the National Hockey League (NHL). He also played for the New Yo ...
of the
New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
,
Sheldon Souray Sheldon Souray (born July 13, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, and Anaheim Ducks. ...
of the
Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...
and
Jeff Finger Jeffrey J. Finger (born December 18, 1979) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League with the Colorado Avalanche and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing career Finger was drafted 240th overall ...
of the
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
were all assigned to their team's AHL affiliate without any other team putting in a claim. In a more interesting case, following the 2011 NHL pre-season, forward
Sean Avery Sean Christopher Avery (born April 10, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. During his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), he played left wing for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Da ...
of the New York Rangers was waived to the AHL. As Avery had been claimed off re-entry waivers from the
Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...
, the cap hit had been split between the Rangers and Stars, but when Avery was demoted to the AHL again, the cap hit came off both teams' books. As a result, the Stars, who had been using Avery's re-entry waiver loss to reach the salary floor for the season, had to trade for winger
Eric Nystrom Eric Thore Nystrom (born February 14, 1983) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He was a first round selection of the Calgary Flames, taken 10th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, and made his NHL debut with Calgary in 2005. ...
to reach the salary floor. Under the 2005 CBA, if an NHL player is being sent to an NHL affiliate team in the AHL and is put through waivers and clears successfully, then his salary will not count against the respective NHL team's salary cap. The player is still paid his full salary. There is an exception to this rule; if the player has a contract that took effect after a player's 35th birthday, then that player's salary would still count against the NHL cap. Under the 2013 CBA, a team only derives a specific savings from demoting a player on a one-way contract to the AHL. This savings is calculated as league minimum plus $375,000. If a player is claimed on waivers, then the claiming team is responsible for the rest of their contract. Re-entry waivers had existed under the 2005 CBA, under which if a player cleared waivers and was sent down to the minors, and then recalled during the season, and his salary was more than $105,000 in the AHL (essentially, any player not on an entry-level or two-way contract), he was subject to re-entry waivers where if a team claimed him they are only responsible for half the salary for the remainder of the contract. Re-entry waivers were eliminated in the 2013 CBA.


See also

*
Waivers (disambiguation) Waiver or Waivers may refer to: * Waiver, a voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege * Waivers (sports), a type of player transaction common to the four North American major league sports: :* Waivers (American footbal ...
*
NHL salary cap The NHL salary cap is the total amount of money that National Hockey League (NHL) teams are allowed to pay their players. It is a "hard" salary cap, meaning there are no exemptions (and thus no luxury tax penalties are required). Like many professi ...
*
NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement The NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is the basic contract between the National Hockey League (NHL) (32 team owners and NHL commissioner) and the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA), designed to be arrived at through the typical labour–m ...


References

* * {{Citation , author1=NHL , author2=NHLPA , title=Collective Bargaining Agreement Between National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players' Association , year=2005 , url=http://www.nhl.com/cba/2005-CBA.pdf


External links


Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA
National Hockey League labor relations