I was holding out hope that the NHL would do the right thing and allow teams to sign their unsigned draft picks to contracts for the 2019-20 season. I had held out hope that the New York Islanders were going to be able to sign Ilya Sorokin to his one-year ELC this year.
I mistakingly forgot that everything can be put on the bargaining table. Including current year deals. And it seems the NHL will get its way.
Just to be clear, teams have long been able to sign unsigned draft choices to current year contracts late in the year.