The many types of Flames player contracts
By Ryan Pike
2 years agoIt’s the beginning of yet another hockey year, pals, and with that comes new faces, new names, and new contracts. In the interest of providing some information on what players are under contract and are able to play in the NHL, we’ve put together a quick rundown for your reference.
As a general rule: whether a contract is one- or two-way has nothing to do with a player’s waiver status, but generally-speaking if a player is on a one-way contract they require waivers, while most waiver exempt players are on two-way deals. But it gets complicated.
One-way NHL contracts (and requiring waivers)
These players require waivers, which means they cannot be assigned to the minors without first clearing waivers. But they get paid the same rate whether they’re in the NHL or not.
Lucic and Markstrom are the exceptions: they have no-move clauses and cannot be waived or assigned elsewhere.
- F Matthew Tkachuk
- F Johnny Gaudreau
- F Sean Monahan
- F Mikael Backlund
- F Milan Lucic [NMC]
- F Blake Coleman
- F Elias Lindholm
- F Andrew Mangiapane
- F Dillon Dubé
- F Tyler Pitlick
- F Brett Ritchie
- F Trevor Lewis
- F Brad Richardson
- D Noah Hanifin
- D Rasmus Andersson
- D Chris Tanev
- D Nikita Zadorov
- D Erik Gudbranson
- D Juuso Välimäki
- D Michael Stone
- G Jacob Markström [NMC]
One-way NHL contracts (and waiver exempt)
This player doesn’t requires waivers, so they can be moved freely between the NHL and the minors. But they get paid the same rate whether they’re in the NHL or not.
- D Connor Mackey [requires waivers in 2022-23]
Two-way NHL contracts (and requiring waivers)
These players need to clear waivers before being assigned to the minors. But they get paid different rates at the NHL and AHL levels.
- F Byron Froese
- F Justin Kirkland
- F Matthew Phillips
- F Glenn Gawdin
- F Luke Philp
- D Oliver Kylington
- D Kevin Gravel
- D Nick DeSimone
- D Andy Welinski
- D Colton Poolman
- G Daniel Vladar
- G Tyler Parsons
Two-way NHL contracts (and waiver exempt)
These players doesn’t requires waivers, so they can be moved freely between the NHL and the minors. They get paid different rates at the NHL and AHL levels.
Because they’re entering their 20-year-old seasons (they’re born in 2001), Zary, Pelletier and Wolf are eligible to play in major junior. But their contracts will start to toll this season regardless if they do or not. (It’s very unlikely that any of that trio goes back to junior.)
Because he’s entering his 19-year-old season (he’s born in 2002), Kuznetsov is eligible to play in major junior. Depending on the log-jam in Stockton, that might be a possibility. But his contract will start to toll this season regardless of if he does or not.
- F Emilio Pettersen [requires waivers in 2023-24]
- F Connor Zary [requires waivers in 2024-25]
- F Jakob Pelletier [requires waivers in 2024-25]
- F Walker Duehr [requires waivers in 2023-24, or after playing 60 NHL games]
- F Eetu Tuulola [requires waivers in 2022-23]
- F Adam Ruzicka [requires waivers in 2022-23]
- F Martin Pospisil [requires waivers in 2022-23]
- F Dmitry Zavgorodniy [requires waivers in 2023-24]
- D Johannes Kinnvall [requires waivers in 2023-24]
- D Yan Kuznetsov [requires waivers in 2025-26]
- D Ilya Solovyov [requires waivers in 2024-25]
- G Adam Werner [requires waivers in 2023-24]
- G Dustin Wolf [requires waivers in 2025-26]
One-way AHL contracts
These players are not eligible to play at the NHL level without signing an NHL contract. They can be moved between the AHL and ECHL, but they get paid their AHL salary no matter which level they play at.
- F Alex Gallant
- F Reid Perepeluk
- F Mark Simpson
- D Greg Moro
- D Koletrane Wilson
- G Daniil Chechelev
Two-way AHL/ECHL contracts
These players are not eligible to play at the NHL level without signing an NHL contract. They can be moved between the AHL and ECHL, and get paid different rates depending on where they play.
- F Ryan Olsen
- F Westin Michaud
- G Matt Greenfield
- G Andrew Shortridge
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