The Puck Stops Here

One problem that came with the new CBA last season is that of re-entry waivers. Last season, any player who was making more than $75,000 in the minors would have to clear waivers to be called up to the NHL. If a player was claimed on re-entry waivers, then the team that lost him would assume half his salary (and his salary cap hit) while the claiming team would get him at half price. In most cases, somebody would claim a player if the could get him at half-price. Teams nearly the salary cap could not afford to risk calling up such players because they could not afford to lose them and still have to pay half their salary as well as the salary of whichever player had to fill their spot after they were lost. Effectively, this means that if a player making above the limit gets sent ot the minors he is stuck there for the rest of the season. It is too risky to bring him back.

This created problems with the minor pro hockey leagues. The minor league players in the Professional Hockey Players Association (which represents the AHL and the ECHL) sued the NHL. They claimed this was an illegal clause in the NHL CBA since it effectively capped salaries in the minors at $75,000 per player and this cap was imposed upon these players in negotiation by the NHLPA, a union to which that are not member. The Winnipeg Free Press falsely reported a solution (and I believed them). There was a proposal that any player with over 320 professional games (180 if its a goalie) would be exempt from re-entry waivers. That was not what was eventually agreed upon. They instead agrreed to raise the salary limit to $95,000 and keep the rule the same.

This means that any player on a one-way contract (where they dont get paid at a lower rate in the minors cannot be called back up except in rare circumstances).

So far this season, two players have been claimed on re-entry waivers. Nashville claimed Michael Leighton on re-entry waivers from Anaheim when Tomas Vokoun got hurt. Why not get a half-priced backup goalie to get through the injury? Tampa Bay claimed Andre Roy from Pittsburgh. Roy had a successful run with the Lightning in the past and they let him go partially because of payroll concerns - but at half-price why not?

Los Angeles finds themselves with one of the most awkward two goalie systems in the NHL. Dan Cloutier has played very poorly while he has shared Kings goaltending responsibilites with Mathieu Garon, who has been much more adequate. Garon is currently out with a groin injury. Los Angeles has Jason LaBarbera, who was their backup last season, playing very well in the minors. So naturally they brought up Barry Brust instead. They did this because LaBarbera must clear re-entry waivers to get back to the NHL. If Leighton got claimed, LaBarbera would most definitely get claimed as well. But Los Angeles doesn't want to give away LaBarbera so they keep him in the minors and use other weaker goalies in the NHL.

This is another example of the CBA keeping the best players from the NHL. It fits with the players who are left on the sideline or going to Europe because of the CBA, when they are good enough for the NHL. We also have players stuck in the AHL who are good enough for the NHL, but cannot get there due to the CBA. In fact, re-entry waivers is a big part of the reason some of the players go to Europe. They risk a situation where they get stuck in the AHL, unable to be promoted or else accept a two-way contract. So why not go to Europe where they will have a better situation and quite possibly more money? The NHL should be the league of the best available players in the world, but the red tape they have imposed on themselves is chipping away at that.

Here is James Mirtle on the Jason LaBarbera situation.