NHL Waiver Draft

The NHL Waiver Draft was an event of the North American Ice Hockey League National Hockey League (NHL), in which teams could sign players who were not part of the regular squad of another team. The Waiver Draft was abolished prior to the 2005/06 season .

The Waiver Draft took place every year just before the start of the season. A few days before the waiver draft, the teams had to submit lists of protected players who cannot be selected by other teams. Each team had the right to put two goalkeepers and 18 field players on this list. Once the lists had been submitted, no more transfers were allowed and the lists were published two days before the event.

regulate

• The order of the Waiver Draft is based on the result of the previous season. So the worst team gets to pick a player first.
• In the first round, only those teams are allowed to select players who missed the playoffs in the preseason .
• In the first round, the teams are not allowed to select players from teams from their own division.
• A team does not have to sign any players in the Waiver Draft, but can still lose up to three players.
• If a team signs more than three players, it can lose as many players as it selects. For example, a team can lose up to five players if it signs five players.
• If an expansion draft has recently taken place, a team that has lost a goalkeeper in the process cannot lose another goalkeeper in the waiver draft unless the team agrees.
• The waiver draft ends when no more teams select players.

particularities

There are players who may not be selected in the Waiver Draft, but who do not have to be placed on the list of protected players. These exempted players lose this status after a certain period of time or when they have played a certain number of games.

goalkeeper

Age	Duration of leave	Max. Number of games
18 years	6 years	80 games
19 years	5 years	80 games
20 years	4 years	80 games
21 years	4 years	60 games
22 years	4 years	60 games
23 years	3 years	60 games
24 years	2 years	60 games
25 years and older	1 year	-

Outfield player

Age	Duration of leave	Max. Number of games
18 years	5 years	160 games
19 years	4 years	160 games
20 years	3 years	160 games
21 years	3 years	80 games
22 years	3 years	70 games
23 years	3 years	60 games
24 years	2 years	60 games
25 years and older	1 year	-

Current regulation

In addition to the waiver draft, there was also the waiver list , on which players were placed during the season that a team wanted to split up with. If a team wants to sign a player on the waiver list, they do not have to provide anything in return. After the waiver draft was abolished, the waiver list was retained.

Web links

• 1999 NHL Waiver Draft

Individual evidence

1. ↑ espn.com, 2002-03 NHL waiver draft protected lists