DK Pittsburgh Sports · Nov 9, 2021
In the System: Which prospects must Penguins make decisions on this year?
Clayton PhillipsCHICAGO -- When a player is drafted in the NHL, the NHL team only holds the exclusive signing rights to a player for so long.
How long a team has to decide whether they want to sign one of their drafted players to an entry-level contract depends on a number of factors -- primarily the player's age when he was drafted and where he was drafted from.
A full explanation with a number of tables explaining all of the different scenarios that affect the timelines for teams to retain a player's exclusive signing rights can be found on CapFriendly's website.
If a player goes unsigned by his deadline, he then becomes a free agent and is free to sign with any team.