ECHL Important Summer Dates

It’s that time of year in the ECHL to look at certain dates and times for events that are critical to the opening night roster come October.

June of 2024

June 8th – Protected Lists are due by 3 pm Eastern- ECHL Teams are allowed to protect as many players as they would like to, bearing that the players meet guidelines between the ECHL and PHPA.

Guidelines:

1. Players must have signed an SPC with the team they have not been traded or released.

2. Another option is that the player has signed an SPC and was recalled on assignment to the NHL/AHL or IIHF, they also can not have been traded or released.

3. The third option is the player could have received a qualifying offer in the summer for the current season, DID NOT sign an SPC, and has not been traded nor released.

4. The fourth guideline is the player has been suspended by the team or the ECHL but has not been traded or released.

5. A fifth guideline, the player signed an SPC on the first day of the season OR after the first day, and then may have been signed to an NHL/AHL deal, and has not been traded nor released.

6. The sixth and final guideline is that the player has the ECHL Retirement Form and they have not been traded or released. Protected lists may exceed twenty players.

June 20th- Future Considerations Trade Deadline are due by 3 pm

Teams that receive futures during a regular season trade can select players from the team they traded with. These trade completions can not be rolled over and must be completed by the Future Considerations deadline. Any players that are dealt after the season by this deadline must come from the the team’s protected list.

June 22nd- Season-Ending Rosters due by 3 pm

ECHL Season-Ending Rosters may include up to 20 players. These rosters cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in the 2023-2024 season. Every team has the rights to a maximum of eight players from the list of 20. The team can extend a qualifying offer no later than 11:59 pm on July 7th, 2024. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the 2023-24 Season). 

June 23rd- First day to sign contracts for 2024-25 Season

ECHL teams are able to start signing players for the 2024-2025 season

July 2024

July 7th- Qualifying Offers due to Players due by 11:59 p.m

The team can extend a qualifying offer no later than 11:59 pm on July 7th, 2024. Of those 8 players that were qualified, no more than 4 of them can be veterans. 260 regular season professional hockey games had to have been played at the start of the 2024-2025 season.

July 22nd- Qualifying Offer Acceptance Period ends at 11:59 p.m

Players in the ECHL that are on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are not required to extend offers to players who are signed to contracts prior to June 30th. The qualifying offer must remain open to be accepted until 11:59 pm on July 22nd. At 11:59 pm, if the offer is not accepted, it becomes voided. Teams are not required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract prior to June 30. Any team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a player that is not a veteran, will retain the rights to that player for one playing season. Teams that extend an offer to a veteran player, or goaltender that has played 180 regular season games, have the rights to that player until 11:59 pm on July 22nd.

August 2024

August 8th- Restricted Free Agency ends

After July 22, If the veteran player or the goaltender is not signed by the team, those players are deemed free agents. They are entitled to seek and secure contracts from other ECHL teams. Restricted Free Agents may not be traded. When a RFA receives a contract from another team, other than the team with their rights, and they wish to accept the contract, the RFA must notify the ECHL, the team with their rights, and the PHPA. The team with the players rights have seven days after the date of notification to match the offered contract. If the RFA is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by a team by 11:59 pm on August 8th, 2024, the player becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent.