Waivers (NHL)

The contract specifies that the team has exclusive rights to the player playing in the NHL.

[2] In the 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) assignment waivers applies only to loans from an NHL club to its American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.

With limited exceptions, any player who was subject to waivers before assignment to the minors must clear re-entry waivers before being called back up if said player is on a one-way contract or a two-way contract with an AHL salary in excess of $105,000.

The procedure to make a claim on re-entry waivers is the same; however, teams who claim players on re-entry waivers are only responsible for half the salary and cap hit, while the original team is responsible for the other half, unless the claimed player is later assigned to the AHL again before his contract has expired, in which case the salary and cap hit comes off the books of both teams.

These waivers can only be requested during two periods: Such a player must have been on a club's 90-player reserve list at the previous trade deadline.

In 2010, Wade Redden of the New York Rangers,[1] Sheldon Souray of the Edmonton Oilers and Jeff Finger of the Toronto Maple Leafs[11] were all assigned to their team's AHL affiliate without any other team putting in a claim.

In a more interesting case, following the 2011 NHL pre-season, forward Sean Avery of the New York Rangers was waived to the AHL.

Under the 2013 CBA, a team only derives a specific savings from demoting a player on a one-way contract to the AHL.