Quote:
Originally Posted by Freeway
The way NHL contracts and the CBA account for deals, they "begin" whenever they're signed but aren't "active" until the deal begins.
The Flames had to move out a contract last year in the Wideman trade, despite Wideman being a pending UFA, because they were at 50 contracts.
It's a weird rule.
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They had to trade away a contract in order to acquire Wideman because they were acquiring his expiring Washington contract. His signing was technically a contract extension, not a UFA signing.
Brossoit and Wotherspoon could both be signed to their ELCs at any time because they would get the entry-level slide. Last year, the Flames had Baertschi and Reinhart under contract, but they didn't count on the 50 contract count because they had slid to this year.
Last year, the Flames signed David Eddy after his college season ended, but it couldn't take effect until this season because they were at the 50 contract limit. Feaster has talked about being in discussion with some college kids last year who wanted to have their contracts start last season to burn a year of their ELC to get them closer to free agency (and more money), but the Flames couldn't make that offer.