Complete Expansion Draft Rules, Date, And More

The rules of the pending expansion haven’t been much of a secret over the past few months. Just look at this, or this, or this, or this. We pretty much knew it all. The NHL has now confirmed just about every one of those rules, clarified a few others, and threw out a few new ones.

Here’s a recap of what’s new.

• Expansion Draft protection lists must be submitted by 2:00 PM PT on June 17, 2017. Las Vegas must submit selections by 2 PM on June 20th. Results will be unrelieved on June 21st. (Looks like our friend Mr. Gagnon was correct)
• Players will have the opportunity to waive their No Movement Clause (NMC).
• Las Vegas must select at least 20 players who are under contract for the 2017-18 season.
• Players with “career-threatening” injuries may not be used to meet the 40/70 Rule or any other exposure requirement rules. (Unless they get specific permission)
• Nothing has been specified about Las Vegas’ status in future NHL Entry Drafts past 2017-18.
  • It was previously reported that Las Vegas would be guaranteed a spot in the lottery for four years.
• Las Vegas will be in the Western Conference Pacific Division with Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Arizona, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary.
• Every team in the NHL will make at least one appearance at T-Mobile Arena.

The NHL has released a full breakdown of every rule and regulation involved with the new franchise, that can be found here.

Nothing too earth shattering here and certainly nothing that will debilitate the Las Vegas franchise. Being forced to select 20 players who are currently under contract is not ideal, though I believe the team would have reached the number anyway.

Start the countdown to June 21st, that’s the day Las Vegas will get it’s first players. It’s only 362 days away!