Since this is the season where these questions will come up, I figured it was a good time to have a little refresher on the rules for Restricted Free Agency. Most hockey fans have an idea of how it works—so we just gave an overview and included some of the actual numbers that some of us don’t know. We figured it would be best to explain all of this in plain English (since the CBA is NOT in plain English).
Basically, when a player’s contract ends and they do not qualify for unrestricted free agency, they are a restricted free agent. In the simplest terms, it’s set up where any team can try to sign the restricted free agent, but a) there will be compensation involved and b) the original team has the right to match any potential contract offers.
The only thing the current team must do to retain these rights is to extend a qualifying offer to the player. If the player rejects the qualifying offer, then he becomes a restricted free agent. If he accepts it, then the qualifying offer is his contract.
How will qualifying offers work?
“Players earning $660,000 or less will be entitled to qualifying offers (QO) at 110% of their prior year’s salary; players earning more than $660,000 and up to $1 million will be entitled to QOs at 105% of prior year’s salary; players earning more than $1 million will be entitled to QO at 100% of their prior year’s salary.”
If a player signs an offer sheet (read: a contract with another team), the current team has a week to either match the offer sheet to keep their player or decline and watch their player walk out the door. In that case, the current team will receive draft picks as compensation for the other team pillaging their players. Here’s a breakdown of the compensation scale for the 2010-11 season.
| Salary (Cap Hit) | Compensation |
| $1,020,348 or below | No compensation |
| $1,020,348 to $1,545,981 | 3rd Rounder |
| $1,545,981 to $3,091,963 | 2nd Rounder |
| $3,091,963 to $4,637,944 | 1st and 3rd Rounder |
| $4,637,944 to $6,183,925 | 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Rounder |
| $6,183,925 to $7,729,907 | Two 1st rounders, a 2nd and a 3rd rounder |
| Over $7,729,907 | Four 1st Rounders |
Something to remember with restricted free agents: If the original team chooses to match an offer sheet to keep their player, they are not allowed to trade the player for a year (so you won’t see teams matching qualifying offers just to trade the player at the deadline the next season).
The last catch regarding restricted free agents is that they must sign by December 1. If a team and an RFA are engaged in a contract dispute and are unable to reach an agreement by December 1st, the player will be ineligible to play for the rest of the season. Basically, the deadline serves as a catalyst to make both sides get their shit together.
Of course, this is the abridged version of restricted free agency. There are things like salary arbitration that sometimes come into play—but this should serve as a starter for anyone trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Matt Reitz is the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com and former NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports. When he’s not shoving a mic in the face of NHLers or explaining why home teams should wear white, he’s usually trying to figure out what song to play next on his iPod. It’s a never-ending job.
