Hockey contracts come in a dizzying array of types, and everyone is forgiven for getting mixed up about who is playing under what type of contract and what that means. This is particularly bad for teams like the Leafs where they own their AHL team and have some level of control over their ECHL team. It begins to seem like they just have an undifferentiated mass of players. But the differences have distinct meanings.
An NHL contract is exactly what it sounds like: a contract between an individual player and a specific NHL team. The standard player contract or SPC is the deal under which most players in NHL games are covered.