Quote:
Originally Posted by sureLoss
Players need to have 3 years pro experience to sign an offer sheet.
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Further to this, a player earns a year of experience by either playing 10 or more NHL games if he's under 20, or 10 or more pro games if he's over 20.
For example, Lance Bouma got injured at the start of his third pro season and only played 3 AHL games during the season, so he didn't have RFA rights when his ELC expired.
Also, the number of years of experience required decreases depending on the player's age when he signed his first contract. Generally speaking, the player will be RFA eligible when his ELC expires. However, with the late-season college signings, the player typical burns the first year of his contract without playing enough games to have it count as a year of experience.
If I understand the rules correctly, Arnold, Agostino, and Van Brabant are all in need of new contracts for next season, but none of them are eligible to accept an offer sheet from another team, so the Flames basically own them if they want to play in North America next season. This is also a reason why no one should be surprised if they all sign one-year contracts for next season.