What is the waiver draft?

[HABitual]

I tried Googling the term but didn't come up with much. What are the rules? The history?

 

[Hedberg]

I tried Googling the term but didn't come up with much. What are the rules? The history?

The waiver draft existed pre-lockout. Basically teams protected 18 skaters and 2 goalies that were waiver eligible. Every other player in the system that was waiver eligible was then available to be drafted. The draft order worked the same way as the entry draft.

An example of a waiver from (from 2004):

A protected list:

Vancouver:
Protected: Magnus Arvedson, F; Todd Bertuzzi, F; Artem Chubarov, F; Matt Cooke, F; Ed Jovanovski, D; Trevor Linden, F; Mats Lindgren, F; Marek Malik, D; Brad May, F; Brendan Morrison, F; Markus Naslund, F; Mattias Ohlund, D; Jarkko Ruutu, F; Sami Salo, D; Daniel Sedin, F; Henrik Sedin, F; Jiri Slegr, D; Brent Sopel, D; Dan Cloutier, G; Johan Hedberg, G.

Available: Nolan Baumgartner, D; Tyler Bouck, F; Johan Davidsson, F; Dallas Eakins, D; Pat Kavanagh, F; Zenith Komarniski, F; Darren Langdon, F; Chris Nielsen, F; Jaroslav Obsut, D; Ryan Ready, F; Leif Rohlin, D; Vadim Sharifijanov, F; Tyler Moss, G.

A list of picks:

Player/Claimed By/Claimed From:
Nolan Baumgartner/Pittsburgh/Vancouver
Travis Green/Columbus/Toronto
Petr Tenkrat/Toronto/Columbus
Wade Brookbank/Nashville/Ottawa
Serge Aubin/Atlanta/Colorado
Darren Langdon/Montreal/Vancouver
Sheldon Keefe/NY Rangers/Tampa Bay
Chris Mason/Nashville/Florida
Ronald Petrovicky/Atlanta/NY Rangers
Steve Begin Montreal/Buffalo
Brian Willsie Washington/Colorado
Todd Simpson Anaheim/Phoenix
Jeff Heerema St. Louis/NY Rangers
Stephen Valiquette Florida/Edmonton
Shawn Heins Atlanta/NY Rangers
Joel Bouchard NY Rangers/Buffalo
Denis Hamel Washington/Ottawa
Glen Metropolit Ottawa/Washington
Jani Hurme Carolina/Florida
Mike Siklenka NY Rangers/Philadelphia

 

[Brodeur]

The waiver draft was done away with after the lockout. Before that, it was (in theory) a way to redistribute talent from the stacked teams to the bottom feeders.

Teams were able to protect 18 skaters and 2 goalies. For simplicity's sake, entry level players on their first contract were exempt (here's a link to the rules in 1999: http://www.hockeynut.com/9900/waiverformat99.html)

Obviously if you can protect 18 skaters and 2 goalies, you're likely only exposing your healthy scratches. In later years, teams would expose players with big contracts (Chris Osgood and Curtis Joseph being the notable ones).

But most of the time, maybe a half-dozen forgettable players were taken. And it wasn't uncommon for those players to be traded back to their original teams for a mid/low round draft pick.

Lists of available players:

1999: http://www.hockeynut.com/9900/waiverlist99.html (Phillipe Boucher being the most notable)

2000: http://www.hockeynut.com/0001/waiverlists2000.html (Boucher, Dwayne Roloson)

2001: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2001/09/28/islanders010929.html (Osgood taken by the Islanders)

2002: http://espn.go.com/nhl/s/2002/1002/1440316.html

2003: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2003/10/01/nhl031001.html (Pavel Bure, CuJo, amongst others)

 

[Core]

I'm glad that is done and over with.

 

[kdb209]

I'm glad that is done and over with.

But it still lives on in the Annals of CBA Misinformation.

At least every 6 months I see the "you can't reacquire someone you traded for a year" bit, usually with Dean McAmmond's name thrown in.

This had it's germ in the Waiver Draft. Under the old CBA, if you traded a player within 4 weeks before the waiver draft, you couldn't trade back for them for the remainder of that season. This was to prevent teams from circumventing the 18 skater/2 goalie limit by stashing a player with another team.

13.36. A player traded by a Club within the four weeks prior to the Waiver Draft may not be
reacquired by such Club within the forthcoming season.

But it keeps coming back (incorrectly) in the more general form.

And to bring it back to Dean McAmmond:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2003/03/14/mcammond030314.html

McAmmond a Flame, but can't play rest of season
Last Updated: Friday, March 14, 2003 | 6:01 PM ET
CBC Sports
Dean McAmmond won't be returning to Colorado, but he won't be playing with Calgary either.

The NHL ruled Friday that the Calgary Flames forward is ineligible to play for the club for the rest of this season, but the trade that brought him back to Calgary was not voided.

McAmmond can still practise with the team, go to team functions and get paid his NHL salary, but he can't play in the squad's final 12 games of the season.

Calgary re-acquired McAmmond at the trade deadline Tuesday for a fifth-round draft pick. The Flames had originally traded McAmmond to Colorado on Oct. 1 as part of the Derek Morris-Chris Drury deal.

The trade was thrown into doubt late Wednesday after it came to light that the transaction violated a clause in the collective bargaining agreement.

"The player technically was not eligible to return to Calgary," Bill Daly, NHL executive vice-president and chief legal officer, said in a statement Friday. "The Flames traded McAmmond to Colorado on Oct. 1, 2002, three days prior to the NHL waiver draft, and Article 13.36 of the collective bargaining agreement states explicitly that 'a player traded by a club within the four weeks prior to the waiver draft may not be re-acquired by such club within the forthcoming season.'

"After becoming aware that the transaction had been concluded in error, we consulted with the clubs involved in the trade and determined that while a reversal of the trade was not required, the player nonetheless will not participate in league play for Calgary for the balance of the season," Daly said.

The reason the rule exists is so teams don't try anything strange at the annual waiver draft, like making pre-arranged deals with teams for players they don't want to lose in the draft.

In the past, some NHL teams would trade a player they didn't want to expose in the waiver draft and then re-acquire him a few weeks later for a low draft pick. In practice, it was called "hiding" players.

 

[HABitual]

Thanks, everyone. I think all the information here will provide a thorough understanding, once I sift through it all! I wonder why nhl.com has no page on the waiver draft rules. I didn't find one anyways.

 

[ES]

Thanks, everyone. I think all the information here will provide a thorough understanding, once I sift through it all! I wonder why nhl.com has no page on the waiver draft rules. I didn't find one anyways.

Because it doesnt't exist anymore?



Wasn't there a rule that once you picked some player, you had to unprotect some of your originally protected players? I also think that there wasn't any stated amount of rounds. Once each team (in succession) had decided not to select any player, the draft was over.

 

[mouser]

Wasn't there a rule that once you picked some player, you had to unprotect some of your originally protected players? I also think that there wasn't any stated amount of rounds. Once each team (in succession) had decided not to select any player, the draft was over.

Yep. I seem to recall a few of those chain-reactions happening.

 

[kdb209]

Because it doesnt't exist anymore?



Wasn't there a rule that once you picked some player, you had to unprotect some of your originally protected players? I also think that there wasn't any stated amount of rounds. Once each team (in succession) had decided not to select any player, the draft was over.

Yup.

13.26. When a Club claims a player or goalkeeper under this drafting procedure, that Club shall
immediately place the claimed player on its Protected List and shall announce the name of a player, or,
in case a goalkeeper is claimed, a goalkeeper, whose name shall be removed from its Protected List,
thereby reducing said list to eighteen (18) skaters and two (2) goalkeepers.

Curiously enough, the CBA does not define any fixed number of rounds, nor of any explicit termination condition. In practice the draft continued indefinitely until there was a round (other than the first round) in which every team passed.

In the first round, only non-playoff teams were eligible to pick.

13.25. All other players on Reserve Lists (including players on Free Agent List) are offered on
waivers with Clubs having right to claim based upon order of the last Entry Draft, without regard to the
results of the Lottery and trades. Non-playoff Clubs shall claim for one round exclusively. In the
second round and thereafter all Clubs may claim. Claim of a player from the Free Agent List transfers
to the claiming Club whatever rights to equalization compensation were held by the Club from which the
draft claim was made. No Club may claim a player from the Reserve List of a Club in its own division
in the first round. "Playoff Club" and "non-playoff Club" as used in this Section relates to whether a
Club participated in the immediately preceding playoffs.

For completeness sake, here are (most) of the rules for the Waiver Draft - there were some additional rules spread out through articles 13.1-13.21.

WAIVER DRAFT

13.22. The Waiver Draft will be conducted each year within the seven (7) days, but not less than three
(3) days, prior to the opening of the regular season, by telephone conference call at a date and time as
determined by the Commissioner or in accordance with the critical date calendar agreed to by the NHL
and NHLPA. The NHLPA shall participate as an observer in the Waiver Draft.

13.23. Protected lists of eighteen (18) skaters and two (2) goalkeepers are to be submitted to Central
Registry preceding the conduct of the draft, at a date and time as determined by the Commissioner.

13.24. Exemptions: Exempt from claim are:

(a) All players and goalkeepers who, in the opinion of the Commissioner, are on bona fide
military service for their country at the time of the Waiver Draft.

(b) A player on the Free Agent List who signs a contract with a team outside the NHL may
be exempted from claim in the Waiver Draft at the election of the Club. If such player, having been so
exempted, returns to play during the season, the Club will be required to place him, or some other
player on the Protected List at the time of the last Waiver Draft, on waivers.

(c) All players who qualify as set forth in Article 13.4 above.​

13.25. All other players on Reserve Lists (including players on Free Agent List) are offered on
waivers with Clubs having right to claim based upon order of the last Entry Draft, without regard to the
results of the Lottery and trades. Non-playoff Clubs shall claim for one round exclusively. In the
second round and thereafter all Clubs may claim. Claim of a player from the Free Agent List transfers
to the claiming Club whatever rights to equalization compensation were held by the Club from which the
draft claim was made. No Club may claim a player from the Reserve List of a Club in its own division
in the first round. "Playoff Club" and "non-playoff Club" as used in this Section relates to whether a
Club participated in the immediately preceding playoffs.

13.26. When a Club claims a player or goalkeeper under this drafting procedure, that Club shall
immediately place the claimed player on its Protected List and shall announce the name of a player, or,
in case a goalkeeper is claimed, a goalkeeper, whose name shall be removed from its Protected List,
thereby reducing said list to eighteen (18) skaters and two (2) goalkeepers.
[Note: See Section 13.21 re effect on Protected List of Free Agents signed after Waiver Draft,
and players losing their military service exempt status after Waiver Draft.]

13.27.

(a) No Club shall lose more than three (3) players through draft claim made by another
Club(s), unless it chooses to so offer its players, except as provided in subparagraph (b) of his Article,
provided that, in any year in which there is an Expansion Draft involving one or two new Clubs, then the
above described Waiver Draft loss limits shall not be applicable and instead Clubs will have a loss limit
in the next Waiver Draft of two players or one player, respectively, per Club. In addition, any Club that
loses a goalie in any Expansion Draft may not, unless it so elects, lose a goalie in either the next Waiver
Draft or the following year's Waiver Draft. "Draft claim" for this purpose does not include a player
transferred as a result of the option described in subsection 13.29 hereof.

(b) A Club's three draft claim loss limit shall be increased by the number of draft claims it
makes against other Clubs.​

13.28. Goalkeepers: No Club shall lose more than one (1) goalkeeper which loss shall be included in
the total of three (3) in subsection 13.27 above, unless the Club chooses to so offer additional
goalkeeper(s), provided that, in any year in which there is an Expansion Draft involving one or two new
Clubs, then the above described Waiver Draft loss limits shall not be applicable and instead Clubs will
have a loss limit in the next Waiver Draft of two players or one player, respectively, per Club. In
addition, any Club that loses a goalie in any Expansion Draft may not, unless it so elects, lose a goalie in
either the next Waiver Draft or the following year's Waiver Draft.

13.29. The Club from which the draft claim was made shall have the option, exercisable immediately,
of accepting the cash payment as outlined in subsection 13.14, or requesting that the player or
goalkeeper removed by the claiming Club be transferred immediately to its Reserve List and, if it so
desires, to its Protected List. If the Club elects to add such a player or goalkeeper to its Protected List,
it must simultaneously drop a player from said list. If the player or goalkeeper is merely transferred to
the Club's Reserve List, but not placed on its Protected List, he shall remain available for regular draft
claim until so claimed by any Club, including the Club exercising this right to transfer, in proper
sequence, except that he shall not be available to be claimed by any playoff Club until all non-playoff
Clubs have had an opportunity to claim him. The foregoing option shall not be affected by the number
of draft claims which have been made against the claiming Club.

13.30. Further, any Club, at its option, may at the time of filing its Protected List set a waiver price
less than required hereunder for any player who is eligible for claim.

13.31.

(a) When a claim is made, it cannot be withdrawn and the player becomes the property of
the claiming Club.

(b) A Standard Assignment giving effect to each claim made shall be completed and filed
with the Commissioner within ten days of the making of the claim and shall be accompanied by the
payment for the claimed player.​

13.32. When the selection (draft) process has been completed under this Article the players and
goalkeepers then on the Protected List of each Member Club shall be specially recorded and
shall constitute its Protected List until the next ensuing draft proceedings unless changed in
conformity with the provisions of this Article

13.33.

(a) Any player on the Reserve List of a Club who is available for Draft Claim in the Waiver
Draft and who is not claimed, shall, at the completion of the Waiver Draft, be considered to have been
offered on waivers and that no claim has been made.
For this purpose, "claimed" means as a Draft Claim, not transferred solely as a result of
the option described in Article 13.29. "Available for Draft Claim" as used herein means available for
draft claim at the time every Club passes in the final round of the draft.

(b) If any Club having successfully claimed the services of a player under the provisions of
this Article thereafter disposes of such player on waivers, that Club shall not be permitted to make any
further claim to the services of that player until the next Waiver Draft is conducted, and until that date it
shall be deemed to have waived on his services for the purpose to permitting the loaning of such player.​

13.34. A Club acquiring the services of a player under this Article shall have three months thereafter in
which to reduce its Reserve List to conform to the League Article.

13.35. The terms of a player's contract on file with Central Registry at the time of the filing of the
Protected List for the Waiver Draft shall define the obligations to be assumed by a claiming Club, and
any different terms which have been agreed to by the original Club prior to the claim shall remain the
responsibility of the original Club.

13.36. A player traded by a Club within the four weeks prior to the Waiver Draft may not be
reacquired by such Club within the forthcoming season.

13.37

(a) For players and goalkeepers acquired by waivers by original Club (the Club having lost
the player in the Waiver Draft) as provided in subsection 13.14, the waiver price shall be reduced by
one-half.

(b) The currency for the claiming price shall be determined by the location of the Club from
which the player was claimed.
​