Oilers Cut 4 Players, Canucks Lose 1 - Free Agent Market Just Got Bigger
The Oilers have officially cut ties with four young prospects after the signing deadline had passed, and the Canucks lost one, so all five have become UFAs.
August 15 is the deadline for NCAA prospects who have completed four years of eligibility to sign with the NHL teams that originally drafted them.
Seniors graduating after the 2024-25 season had until this date to sign on; otherwise, they were free agents.
It's not just the Oilers and Canucks Losing Players, as 27 Prospects are Hitting Free Agency
This year, 27 players achieved that milestone, and the Edmonton Oilers lost four of them and the Vancouver Canucks lost one, as shown below.
The 2024-25 year also ended the bonus COVID-era eligibility period of the NCAA, which granted players an extra year. Two players took advantage of a fifth year as graduate students but did not sign when they graduated.
They can enter free agency 30 days after telling the NHL Central Registry they are no longer in school.
That rule already let defensemen Michael Koster (Toronto, 2018 5th round) and Jake Boltmann (Calgary, 2020 3rd round) go. There are two more in the pipeline, as shown below.
Free agency rests on more than just NCAA graduation, as documentation is also needed that officially declares a player's departure from school. If that's absent, NHL teams can maintain rights forever, even if the player never makes it pro.
One peculiar case: defenseman Ryan Segalla, Pittsburgh's 2013 4th-round pick, departed from UConn prior to his senior year and hasn't played pro hockey since 2017.
Still, without the clearance process, his name remains on the Penguins' reserve list more than a decade later.
Previously on HockeyLatest
| POLL | ||
AOUT 15 | 58 ANSWERS Oilers Cut 4 Players, Canucks Lose 1 - Free Agent Market Just Got Bigger Will any of these players be signed by other teams? | ||
| Yes | 30 | 51.7 % |
| No | 28 | 48.3 % |
| List of polls | ||