An NHL team can send a player to its AHL affiliate without waivers only if he is waiver-exempt or a specific exception applies. Otherwise, the team must place him on waivers first: another NHL club can claim him during the waiver period, and if no club does, he clears and can be assigned subject to other rules. Whether he is exempt depends chiefly on his position, age when he signed his first NHL contract, seasons accrued and NHL games played—not simply on whether he is young or has a two-way contract.
What happens when a team wants to send a player down?
The NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement (CBA) treats an assignment to a minor-league club as a loan. During the playing-season waiver period, a player who is not exempt generally must clear waivers before the loan can proceed. The CBA’s waiver period begins on the 12th day before the regular season and runs through the end of the club’s playing season.
- The club checks the player’s status. It determines whether he is waiver-exempt under Article 13 or qualifies for a separate exception.
- If waivers are required, the club places him on waivers. Other NHL clubs have an opportunity to submit claims during the applicable period.
- A claim may redirect the player. If a club claims him, the waiver process determines which club receives him, and the original team’s planned AHL assignment is interrupted.
- If no club claims him, he clears. The team may then make the AHL assignment, subject to any separate limits on assignment or recall.
Placement, clearance and the actual AHL loan are distinct steps; the CBA transfer form records whether waivers were required and the clearance date. A waiver placement does not mean a player will be claimed, and clearing waivers does not make every later assignment automatically unrestricted.
How claim priority works
When more than one club submits a claim, priority rules decide which club gets the player. The detailed Article 13 explanation describes priority as based on prior-season standings before November 1 and current-season standings from November 1 onward. Because the applicable standings and mechanics can matter to a specific transaction, a date-specific claim should be checked against the current CBA and standings.
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Who is exempt from waivers?
Article 13 sets different exemption thresholds for skaters and goalies. The table below gives the seasons-and-games thresholds by age at the player’s first NHL contract signing. “Games” means NHL regular-season and playoff games; reaching the listed games threshold ends the exemption even if the seasons threshold has not been reached. These are CBA thresholds, not a player-specific eligibility ruling.
| Age at first NHL contract | Goalie: seasons / NHL games | Skater: seasons / NHL games |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 6 seasons / 80 games | 5 seasons / 160 games |
| 19 | 5 seasons / 80 games | 4 seasons / 160 games |
| 20 | 4 seasons / 80 games | 3 seasons / 160 games |
| 21 | 4 seasons / 60 games | 3 seasons / 80 games |
| 22 | 4 seasons / 60 games | 3 seasons / 70 games |
| 23 | 3 seasons / 60 games | 3 seasons / 60 games |
| 24 | 2 seasons / 60 games | 2 seasons / 60 games |
| 25 or older | 1 season / no games threshold listed | 1 season / no games threshold listed |
Do not determine eligibility from a player’s current age alone. The age category is tied to the CBA’s age definition at the first NHL contract signing, and the calculation also depends on seasons accrued, games, the contract’s signing date and any special provision that applies. In particular, special rules for 18- and 19-year-olds who play at least 11 NHL games in a season can reduce the seasons-of-exemption period.
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Can a player be assigned without clearing waivers a second time?
In certain circumstances, a player who cleared waivers earlier in the same playing season can be assigned again without another clearance. The described rule applies only until he has either played 10 NHL games or spent 30 cumulative days on an NHL roster since clearing waivers. It is not a blanket rule that a waiver clearance lasts for the entire season, and emergency-recall situations have additional conditions.
Injury status can also affect the analysis, but it does not mean an injured player can always be sent down without waivers. Conditioning loans are separate from ordinary assignments: Article 13 describes a standard conditioning loan of up to 14 days with the player’s consent, as well as a distinct conditioning-loan provision for long-term injury or illness with its own duration limits. The applicable clause and circumstances matter in an individual case.
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Does a two-way contract mean a player is waiver-exempt?
No. A two-way contract sets different salary terms for the NHL and AHL; it does not determine waiver exemption. The Article 13 test governs whether waivers are required, so a player on a two-way deal may still need to clear before an ordinary AHL assignment.
What changed under the 2025 NHL agreement?
The 2025 NHL/NHLPA agreement adopts the prior CBA as modified by a new memorandum of understanding (MOU), and the ratified agreement runs through the 2029–30 season, according to the NHL’s ratification announcement. NHL.com’s summary of the change says that, after assignment to the AHL, a player must appear in a minor-league game before his NHL club recalls him.
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That minor-league appearance condition is separate from the waiver question: it concerns the assignment-and-recall cycle, not whether the player needed waivers to be assigned in the first place. The operative MOU clause controls the exact effective date and any exceptions, so a transaction-specific answer should be checked against that language rather than assuming the summary resolves every edge case.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to check for a specific player
A definitive answer requires more than a player’s age or contract label. Check the relevant facts together:
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- Whether he is a skater or goalie.
- His age under the CBA definition when he signed his first NHL contract.
- Seasons accrued and NHL regular-season and playoff games played, including any special rule for an 18- or 19-year-old.
- Whether he cleared waivers earlier in the same playing season and, since then, his NHL games and cumulative days on an NHL roster.
- Whether an emergency recall, injury provision or conditioning loan applies instead of an ordinary assignment.
- Whether the 2025 MOU’s assignment-and-recall condition applies to the transaction.
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