Colorado Avalanche Mailbag: All about waivers, playoff call-ups, and more

Good morning everyone and welcome to another week of Avalanche Mailbag. Over the last couple weeks I’ve received a handful of questions that all dealt with players being waiver exempt and/or entry-level contracts, so I decided to wrap those questions all together this week and give a rundown of why things are the way they are.

The waiver process and its various exemptions are among the more convoluted rules that fans find themselves up against while researching what their team might do, so I hope this breaks it down in an easy to understand way.

The tail end of the All-Star break is a perfect time to explore these sorts of subjects, as the team not playing means that we don’t have anything new to complain about, celebrate, or feel anxiety over. Hooray!

With goaltender Reto Berra almost back, which one [of Berra and current backup Calvin Pickard] will they send down when he’s fully ready? Waiver implications involved? Trade? – @AhabPiggyback

Given how long Berra has been out, it might not be a terrible idea to send him to San Antonio for a short conditioning stint if the team feels like he needs to get back into playing form. There is a way to send Berra to San Antonio for a short term (less than fourteen days) without exposing him to waivers. As per the NHL players’ collective bargaining agreement:

13.8 Conditioning Loan. Unless a Player consents, he shall not be Loaned on a Conditioning Loan to a minor league club. Such Conditioning Loan shall not extend for more than fourteen (14) consecutive days. The Commissioner may take whatever steps he deems necessary to investigate the circumstances under which a Player is Loaned on a Conditioning Loan. If the Commissioner has reason to believe or determines that the Club has used the Conditioning Loan to evade the Re-Entry Waivers, or otherwise Circumvent any provision of this Agreement, he may take such disciplinary action against the Club, as he deems appropriate. The Player shall continue, during the period of such Conditioning Loan, to receive the same Paragraph 1 NHL Salary, and be entitled to the same benefits, that he would have received had he continued to play with the Club.

Essentially, if Berra agreed to it and the League didn’t rule it suspicious (unlikely given a guy coming off a lengthy ankle injury), the Avs could loan him to the Rampage for two weeks. This is the situation you hear about when players are sent to the AHL on what’s colloquially often called a “conditioning stint.”

However, all that hinges on whether or not the Avs think Berra needs it.

If the team decided to send Pickard down instead, he is waiver exempt so there’d be no worry of losing him.

As far as my personal opinion goes, I think it makes more sense for the team to keep Berra on the roster if he’s 100%. No salary penalties and he’s been a more than capable backup this year. It’s a tough call–and on a personal level I’m a huge Cal Pickard fan–but it seems like the smarter thing to do. If they Avs decided to keep Pickard up and Berra didn’t get the conditioning stint, Berra is waiver eligible and that’s a risk I’m not sure the team should take.

Follow up question: how is Pickard still waiver exempt? – Jules via Facebook

Waiver exempt status is determined by the position a player plays, how many NHL games they’ve played, and how old they were when they signed their entry-level contract with their hockey club.

Pickard was nineteen when he signed his ELC, which gives him five years of waiver exemption. He’s in his fourth year of that right now and is exempt through the end of the 2016-17 season.

Since he’s a goaltender, he needs to play eighty games to lose his waiver exempt status. He’s only played twenty-five thus far.

Ergo, he becomes waiver eligible once he either hits eighty NHL games played or finishes the 2016-17 season. The Avs have a lot of time to figure out how he fits into their plans.

Very forward looking question: the Avalanche have obviously parked Mikko Rantanen in the AHL to both develop and so that he doesn’t burn a year of his entry contract.  For the playoffs, what if any restrictions do the Avalanche have to worry about with potentially needing to bring Mikko up? (I.e.: can they without him losing the year he’s already basically sat out) – Chris via email

Unfortunately, the restrictions are identical to the regular season. Playoff games still count against the ten-game threshold that activates a player’s first year of his entry-level contract.

Rantanen has played six games for the Avalanche, which means he could play thee more before the first year of his ELC would be activated, bringing him one year closer to free agency.

This is the exact situation the Calgary Flames found themselves in last year, when they advanced to the second round of the 2014-15 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Sam Bennett on their roster. Bennett only played in one regular season game for the Flames, but he played in eleven playoff games, thus activating his ELC.

However, it’s worth pointing out that Bennett scored three goals–including a game-winner–for Calgary during that playoff run. If the Avalanche called up Rantanen and he lit the world on fire, the team might keep him up and burn that first contract year if they considered him an integral part of a deep playoff run. This is the type of management decision that really sets the tone for how a team is approaching the playoffs. I’m not sure the Avs would do that to win unless they thought Rantanen would make a noticeable impact.

Do you think the Avalanche will sign Conner Bleackley? I was actually pretty sure they would until he broke his knee cap last week. If they really want to sign him, why haven’t they done so already? I assume there must be some doubts about him (remember Roy’s comments after his first camp) and why would that change now that he is severely injured and the signing deadline is just a couple of months away? Also, as far I know, the Avs would get a 2nd round pick as compensation in the 2016 draft if they don’t sign him. Considering that 2016 is another deep draft class, wouldn’t that be an option? – Stefan via email

To answer your questions in reverse order:

Yep, the Avalanche would get a second-round pick if Bleackley isn’t signed. Then he re-enters the draft. That’s certainly an option and you’re right, 2016 is shaping up to be a pretty decent draft year.

As far as why they haven’t signed him yet, that’s anybody’s guess. However my assumption is just that they wanted to see how he performed in the Memorial Cup and there’s no need to rush things. It’s not uncommon for these signings to happen closer to the signing deadline.

Before his kneecap injury, if you’d asked me whether the Avs would sign Bleackley, I’d have said yes in a heartbeat, no reservations. Him missing the entire Memorial Cup does give me pause, though. The team is losing out on a lot of potential development time with him. It’s a horrible situation for Conner and it broke my heart when I heard. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time. I hope his recovery is quick and complete.

My gut says they may still sign him, but that depends on a lot of things I am not privy to.

Tyson Barrie‘s RFA status is concerning. Are you worried we haven’t seen a deal yet? Do you think he’ll be a difficult signing as he’s a Newport Sports Management client [the agency that managed Ryan O’Reilly]? – Multiple

If I were Camp Tyson Barrie I’d be holding off to see how he performs the rest of this year and potentially during the playoffs. That can swing negotiations. I am not concerned that we haven’t seen a deal yet for that reason. Camp Barrie also might want to see what happens to a few comparable players who are awaiting new contracts over the summer so they can use that as a price driver. We’ll definitely be looking into this more as the time approaches!

I am not a huge fan of “it’s going to be difficult just because he’s a Newport client.” Jarome Iginla is a Newport client too and as far as we heard there was no drama whatsoever there.

Thanks for sticking with me through a general knowledge packed edition of the Mailbag! I hope those answers were able to give readers a better understanding of some underlying CBA structures as well as answer specific questions about the players named. Often times that’s a side of the game that’s difficult to follow due to ever-changing rules and dense legal language.

If you’re keen to participate in next week’s Mailbag festivities, make sure you get your questions in! Tweet me at @CaseyDownUnder or @BSNAvalanche with the hashtag #BSNMailbag or shoot questions to BSNAvalanche@gmail.com!