[ryan]

There were a few people wondering if the T.J. Fast trade had to do with being limited to the number of slots available on the 50-90 list.

(For those not familiar, the rules state that you can only have 90 players total in your organization. A maximum of 50 of those players can be signed to a NHL-level contract and no more than 40 can be drafted prospects who have yet to be signed by their team or guys who have been signed, but are still playing with their junior teams.)

I consulted Irish Blues and here's the result:

Q: When do unrestricted free agents come off of the 50 contract limit so that a team can sign new players to replace them?

A: July 1.

Q: So if a team already has 50 contracts given out does that mean they're unable to sign anybody until July 1?

A: If today you sign a player to a contract that starts with the 2008-09 season, he does not count toward the 50-contract limit right now because we're still in the 2007-08 League Year and he's not under contract for this League Year; he will start counting on July 1, when his contract becomes valid for the then-current League Year. Thus, you could have 55 players signed to a contract right now but have 7 of them not starting until 08-09 (meaning 48 are signed for 2007-08) and 9 UFA's dropping off - and be fine.

Q: Then what about drafted players and the 40-man limit?

A: I'm 99% certain that if you draft a player at the 2008 Entry Draft, he does not count toward your 90-man reserve limit until July 1 - even if you sign him the day after the draft.