When drafting a player out of North America or more European countries, a team acquires their exclusive negotiating rights for a set amount of time. Each year on June 1, a long list of players see those rights expire and they become unrestricted free agents (or choose to re-enter the draft, depending on specific circumstances). While this doesn’t always result in a flurry of signings in the last week of May, there are usually a few players who ink their deals at the last minute to stay in the organization that drafted them. With the deadline set for 4:00pm CT tomorrow, CapFriendly has provided a full list of players who will see those rights expire:
Anaheim Ducks
Kyle Olson (122nd overall, 2017)
Arizona Coyotes
Noel Hoefenmayer (108th overall, 2017)
Boston Bruins
Cedric Pare (173rd overall, 2017)
Daniel Bukac (204th overall, 2017)
Calgary Flames
Zach Fischer (140th overall, 2017)
D’Artagnan Joly (171st overall, 2017)
Carolina Hurricanes
Brendan De Jong (166th overall, 2017)
Chicago Blackhawks
Radovan Bondra (151st overall, 2015)
John Dahlstrom (211th overall, 2015)
Colorado Avalanche
Gustav Olhaver (191st overall, 2015)
Columbus Blue Jackets
Veeti Vaini (141st overall, 2015)
Dallas Stars
Liam Hawel (101st overall, 2017)
Brett Davis (163rd overall, 2017)
Markus Ruusu (163rd overall, 2015)
Detroit Red Wings
Lane Zablocki (79th overall, 2017)
Zachary Gallant (83rd overall, 2017)
Cole Fraser (131st overall, 2017)
Reilly Webb (164th overall, 2017)
Brady Gilmour (193rd overall, 2017)
Minnesota Wild
Ales Stezka (111th overall, 2015)
Jacob Golden (147th overall, 2017)
Montreal Canadiens
Scott Walford (68th overall, 2017)
Jarret Tyszka (149th overall, 2017)
Nashville Predators
Karel Vejmelka (145th overall, 2015)
Pavel Koltygin (176th overall, 2017)
Jacob Paquette (216th overall, 2017)
New Jersey Devils
Jocktain Chainey (191st overall, 2017)
New York Islanders
Petter Hansson (202nd overall, 2015)
New York Rangers
Daniel Bernhardt (119th overall, 2015)
Dominik Lakatos (157th overall, 2017)
Ottawa Senators
Filip Ahl (109th overall, 2015)
Jordan Hollett (183rd overall, 2017)
Pittsburgh Penguins
Zachary Lauzon (51st overall, 2017)*
St. Louis Blues
David Noel (130th overall, 2017)
Trenton Bourque (175th overall, 2017)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Ryan McGregor (172nd overall, 2017)
Vancouver Canucks
Kristoffer Gunnarsson (135th overall, 2017)
Matthew Brassard (188th overall, 2017)
Vegas Golden Knights
Maxim Zhukov (96th overall, 2017)
*Lauzon is obviously the highest pick in the group, but the chances of him earning a contract seem slim at this point. The 20-year old defenseman missed the entire 2018-19 season and most of 2017-18 with concussion issues.
How come they are only 2015 and 2017 picks? I guess 2014 and 2016 would’ve expired last year, but how can 2016 expire before 2015?
There are many specific rules when it comes to draft rights, but generally speaking North American players expire two years after they are drafted, while Europeans expire four. That’s why there is the two year gap.