Waivers, Releases and Buyouts

[Admin]

1. Waivers
Players who are 23 years of age or older as of September 16th (i.e. in their sixth+ season since their first year of draft eligibility) are subject to waivers upon demotion to the AHL. This replaces the previous rule of 24 years of age or older as of the demotion date, so that players are eligible for waivers sooner, but their eligibility does not change during the season.

All players on waivers must be posted under Official Waiver Wire Thread, in the Transactions section of the forum. Players are available for claiming for a period of 24 hours from the initial post. GMs must post a reply in the thread to claim a player off waivers. Waiver priority is based on the previous season’s standings until November 15th, and from then, the current season’s standings. There are no limits on the number of waivers or waiver claims.

Waivers begin on Waiver Day, typically a day in October prior to the first game of the season. On Waiver Day, rosters are frozen for a period of 24 hours, and all players on the farm are eligible to be claimed for waivers. For the remainder of the season, waivers are tracked with the daily transactions page. All GMs must post their waivers during the season. Once the regular season ends, GMs may choose to place players on waivers, but do not need to do so.

Players picked up from the waiver wire must spend at least 7 days on their new team's pro roster before being demoted again.

If a player is waived again before 7 days have elapsed, and no other team claims them, their original owning team may choose to reclaim them directly to their farm roster without having to waive them once more. This discourages nuisance waiver claims.

2. Buyouts

All buyouts must be posted under the Bought-Out Players (Buyouts), thread in the Waiver Wire section of the forum. General managers must indicate the current contract with money and term.

A player on a team's buyout list cannot be re-signed or acquired in any way by that team for the duration of his time on that list. Unlike in the NHL, buyouts last (by default) for the duration of a player's remaining contract rather than being spread over twice the remaining number of seasons.

a. Current Buyout Formula

Starting with the 2021 offseason, buyouts cost 75% of a player's remaining contract, minus a one-time discount of 300k (i.e. not annual). So, a 600k, 1y contract will cost 450k-300k = 150k to buy out; a 1M, 1y contract 750k-300k = 450k, and a 2M, 2y contract 4.0M - 300k = 3.7M, or 1.85M annually. Buyouts with a total cost of over 1M may be spread over one extra year beyond the player's contract length; otherwise, the buyout is spread over the remaining period of the player's contract.

b. Previous Buyout Formula

The previous buyout formula will remain valid until the 2021-22 regular season begins, after which it may not be used and will only remain for posterity:

Players signed or acquired by the previous GM: Teams will not be held entirely responsible for the decisions of their previous GM. The following chart shows the buyout percentages:

Up to $2,499,999 = 40%
$2,500,000 or more = 20%

Players signed or acquired by the current GM: General managers will be held accountable for their decisions by paying higher buyout costs. The following chart shows the buyout percentages:

Up to $2,499,999 = 50%
$2,500,000 or more = 75%

[Bruins_GM]

What's the penalty for releasing quick-signed players?

[Jets GM]

What's the penalty for releasing quick-signed players?

50%

[Vik (Habs)]

What's the penalty for releasing quick-signed players?

After that, only fast-signed players will be free released.

[SharksGM]

It depends on what you mean by quick-signed players. If you quick-sign someone under 60OA yourself, they're subject to normal buyout rules (although I can't imagine why you'd ever want to buy them out unless you're really desperate for contract spots). If they're auto-signed during a sim due to injury then they can be released freely. In principle you could carry a 20-man AHL roster and rely on fast-signs to cover injuries, but we'd frown on that and I don't see any real motivation for it either.

[Calgary.Flames]

I'm letting you free release Tremblay, Jason.
He thought Tremblay was a D and turns out *surprise* he's a goaler.

Simple mistake, I don't see any reason you'd need to be penalized for.
That being said, clean your glasses!

[DevilsGM]

Are we going to reduce the $2.5M value to better represent the cap percentage after the rollback? Its a $600,000 difference.

[SharksGM]

Are we going to reduce the $2.5M value to better represent the cap percentage after the rollback? Its a $600,000 difference.

The rollback was 20%. We also increased the cap from $56M to (soon to be) $60M after the rollback, so as a fraction of the cap it's only a 14% difference.

[Ted1971]

How will it work since I'm new with the Devils in regards of buying players out? If I'm reading this correctly, a player making $5M will only have a penalty of $1M and a player making $1.5M would be $600,000 ?

[Vik (Habs)]

How will it work since I'm new with the Devils in regards of buying players out? If I'm reading this correctly, a player making $5M will only have a penalty of $1M and a player making $1.5M would be $600,000 ?

Correct. The penalty lasts as long as the contract (eg if they have 2 years left, you'll have the cap hit from the buyout for 2 years).

[Ted1971]

How will it work since I'm new with the Devils in regards of buying players out? If I'm reading this correctly, a player making $5M will only have a penalty of $1M and a player making $1.5M would be $600,000 ?

Correct. The penalty lasts as long as the contract (eg if they have 2 years left, you'll have the cap hit from the buyout for 2 years).

Where would I put these buyouts at?

[Vik (Habs)]

How will it work since I'm new with the Devils in regards of buying players out? If I'm reading this correctly, a player making $5M will only have a penalty of $1M and a player making $1.5M would be $600,000 ?

Correct. The penalty lasts as long as the contract (eg if they have 2 years left, you'll have the cap hit from the buyout for 2 years).

Where would I put these buyouts at?

There's a thread for them in the Financials section:
viewtopic.php?f=98&t=120

[SharksGM]

Updated with the new buyout formula. Remind me to clarify when buyouts can me made at some point.

[SharksGM]

I updated basically the entire first section, since it was out of date. It codifies the practice of Waiver Day, which we have been following for a few seasons now, and clarifies that waivers are optional between the end of the previous regular season and the start of the next.

[SharksGM]

If a player is waived again before 7 days have elapsed, and no other team claims them, their original owning team may choose to reclaim them directly to their farm roster without having to waive them once more. This discourages nuisance waiver claims.

Added this bit, which I'm pretty sure I intended to have in the rules all along but apparently never posted. Anyway, it doesn't come up often but it makes sense so here it is.

[TBGM - Geoff]

Just to confirm, players acquired post trade deadline (ie my waiver claim of Timo Meier) are not eligible for the playoffs, correct?

[NYRNYRNYR]

Just to confirm, players acquired post trade deadline (ie my waiver claim of Timo Meier) are not eligible for the playoffs, correct?

Correct. Here's the link for all teams/players: viewtopic.php?t=11089