ffs….
CBA section 13.23:
This is Rule 13.23:
In the event a professional or former professional Player plays in a league outside North America after the start of the NHL Regular Season, other than on Loan from his Club, he may thereafter play in the NHL during that Playing Season (including Playoffs) only if he has first either cleared or been obtained via Waivers. For the balance of the Playing Season, any such Player who has been obtained via Waivers may be Traded or Loaned only after again clearing Waivers or through Waiver claim.
Basically, Rule 13.23 requires that any player who plays in a European professional league during an NHL season must pass through waivers before being allowed to play in the NHL during that season. As a result of this rule, in the case of Miettinen, Nabokov and Wellwood (who all left the KHL midseason), each was picked off waivers. But from the perspective of the interests of the NHL and the NHLPA, the two parties to the CBA, what’s the point of this rule?
Without question this rule is adverse to the goals of the NHLPA, whose purpose is to advocate for the interests of its members. Rule 13.23 adds a powerful element of risk to any team wishing to sign this category of players, inherently making teams less likely to do so. Furthermore, Rule 13.23 denies the player the element of control over where they play. This category of players basically only get to decide whether or not they are willing to sign a particular NHL contract, and then they leave it to Russian Roulette to determine for which team. Without this rule, players who begin a season in a European league and leave such league midseason would simply return to the free agency status they would have had prior to the season, with all the control that goes with it. The NHLPA is always in pursuit of increasing free agency rights for its members, and surely it should oppose this rule.
The Wonders of CBA Rule 13.23 (or “Antti Miettinen has a Sad”)
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/en/v3/ext/CBA2012/NHL_NHLPA_2013_CBA.pdf