Roster Limits

Teams have four different “roster” limits to balance under the league’s regulations; a 20-player “dressed list” for games, a 23-player active NHL roster, a 50-contract maximum, and a 90-player maximum reserve list.

Starting with the largest and working our way down, teams are only allowed to have up to 90 players on its reserve list, whether signed to a standard player contract (SPC) or unsigned. From there teams are only allowed to have up to 50 players signed to contracts for any given season, including those for the players on the active roster and injured reserve lists. The unsigned players are draft picks of the club who have not yet been signed. In most cases, an organization retains an unsigned drafted player’s rights for two seasons after his drafted year, with some extended timeframes provided for US College players and for European players, among others, but that’s for another topic later on.

Every player on the 23-person active NHL roster, plus any player on the injured reserve list, must be under contract (and count toward the 50 contract maximum) and every team must have at least 24 players and three goaltenders under an SPC. Beyond those parameters, a team has wide latitude to make up its 50 contracts. In actuality, most teams opt not to use the full 50-contract maximum to give the organization the flexibility to make roster moves – trades, waiver claims, or player signings – at any given time. Most teams carry a significant number of signed players at the minor professional level, AHL being the highest minor pro league in North America. Since these players are already signed to contracts, it’s easy for clubs to recall the player(s) to the NHL as needed.

Other players may be signed to contracts but returned to the player’s junior club – most often this takes place between an NHL club and Canadian Major Junior teams (teams that play in the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, or Western Hockey League, collectively the CHL). But 18 and 19-year-old players assigned to their team in the CHL do not count against the 50-contract maximum, until they have played at least 11 NHL games in one season.

The 50-contract limit has an interesting distinction in that the limit pertains to the season(s) for which a contract is valid. All NHL player contracts expire on June 30. The year varies from contract to contract, but the day remains the same (as we’ll discuss more when we look at player contracts in later editions of the feature). Knowing it has expiring contracts coming off its 50-contract maximum, a team can sign players to contracts for the following season. By doing so a team may have more than 50 different players signed to valid SPCs, as long as 50 or fewer are signed to valid SPCs for that current season AND fewer than 50 SPCs on tap for the upcoming season.

The 23-man roster limit is in place from the conclusion of the preseason until 12:01 am on the day of the NHL’s Trade Deadline. After that teams are allowed to have an unlimited active roster at the NHL level, provided players are signed to one of their 50 contract slots. NHL teams are only allowed to dress a maximum of 20 players – 18 skaters and two goaltenders – for any given game, but those 20 must come from the 23-player active roster.

Both the 23-player active roster and 20-player game roster can change day-to-day and game-to-game. All changes to the team’s 23-player active roster must be cleared through the NHL’s Central Registry before the move is considered finalized (and before the player is eligible to play in a game). In most cases the clearance from Central Registry is simple and completed in a nominal time span. Changes to the 20 players on the game roster are even easier – the list is submitted to the NHL official (either referee or official scorer) by the team (usually the head coach) moments before the start of the game. Prior to submitting the list, the team can choose from any members of its 23-man active roster.

As for the 20-player game roster, according to Rule 5.2, “Only players and goalkeepers on the list submitted to the Official Scorer before the game may participate in the game.” The rule further states that any goals scored while ineligible players are on the ice are subject to be disallowed – at the time of the goal – and the ineligible player(s) removed from the game with the offending team not allowed to replace the ineligible player’s roster spot. However, the rule continues, “No additional penalties are to be assessed but a report of the incident must be submitted to the Commissioner.”

There is an exemption to the rule should both of the goaltenders on the game roster become “incapacitated” but that is an extremely specific rule that has very rarely come into play in the league’s long history.

Beyond those limitations, the league does not dictate the make-up of a team’s roster, though the standard make-up used by most teams for the 20-player game roster is to dress 12 forwards and six defensemen along with the mandated two goaltenders. Rarely a team will use 13 forwards and five defensemen, but it’s not overly uncommon for a team to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

ZAR will make more than 1 million next year.

The answer is easy, Maatta or JJ is gone. Possibly Jugs too.
This team has youth, it needs to play it. Period. Hållander is one example, and he's a lot more than a 4th liner. Pavel and BJorkqvist are other examples.
There is no reason Blueger isn't on the team here. He's another player on the cheap.
This team is fine next year. It's not hard to trade any of those 3 players listed above.

Yeah they'll certainly have to make some moves but moving them shouldn't be that hard. (Maatta and Bjugstad) JJ on the other hand may not be so easy....

I don't view JJ as being all that hard to move. He's not a -20 player. He plays really well for stretches. It's just everyone likes to point him out when it goes bad and no one points out where it goes good.
He's played a lot of minutes for the penguins this year. You take away some of those goals on ice he has nothing to do with and you can pin on other players like Kessel, and you start realizing a team or two out there could use him. His even strength Corsi is a 46.0% that's not great but it's not horribly bad considering he's getting 2nd pairing minutes. It helps he's a hitting machine. He would be fine as a 3rd pairing guy on a lot of teams. Even an upgrade.

Curious as to why you feel that ZAR is worth more than 1 million?

it will need to be a defenseman moved. Probably Maatta, maybe Johnson or Schultz as an option as well but my bet would be Maatta is moved for a second round pick.


Also Blueger will be on the team next season. Probably 4th line center.

because he's a 3rd to 2nd line talent. He scores, hits, plays great defense. What's not to like about his game.

To me he doesn't justify it as he hasn't played a full season. I think they sign him to a 1-2 year deal under a million and make him prove that he can play consistently as well as chip in offensively. I do think he is more of a third line talent as he doesn't score enough to play top 6 imo.

Depending on where the Penguins place in the draft and if they choose to use it, whom do you think they will select? As of today, these are the official top 31 prospects in order from #1-#31

TOP PROSPECTS
1 Jack Hughes (C) U.S. National U18 Team USDP 39 23 58 81 18
2 Kaapo Kakko (RW) TPS Liiga 45 22 16 38 10
3 Vasili Podkolzin (RW) SKA-1946 St. Petersburg MHL 12 6 2 8 2
4 Alex Turcotte (C) U.S. National U18 Team USDP 30 23 30 53 18
5 Bowen Byram (D) Vancouver Giants WHL 67 26 45 71 80
6 Peyton Krebs (LW/C) Kootenay Ice WHL 64 19 49 68 63
7 Kirby Dach (C) Saskatoon Blades WHL 62 25 48 73 40
8 Dylan Cozens (C/RW) Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL 68 34 50 84 30
9 Matthew Boldy (LW) U.S. National U18 Team USDP 53 28 38 66 26
10 Trevor Zegras (C) U.S. National U18 Team USDP 52 23 51 74 80

11 Moritz Seider (D) Adler Mannheim DEL 29 2 4 6 8
12 Victor Söderström (D) Brynäs IF SHL 44 4 3 7 22
13 Cam York (D) U.S. National U18 Team USDP 52 9 37 46 14
14 Spencer Knight (G) U.S. National U18 Team USDP 27 2.55 .906 - -
15 Bobby Brink (RW) Sioux City Musketeers USHL 37 29 26 55 20
16 Alex Newhook (C) Victoria Grizzlies BCHL 53 38 64 102 21
17 Ville Heinola (D) Lukko Liiga 34 2 12 14 26
18 Ryan Johnson (D) Sioux Falls Stampede USHL 46 5 17 22 24
19 Philip Broberg (D) AIK Allsvenskan 41 2 7 9 14
20 Pavel Dorofeyev (LW/RW) Stalnye Lisy Magnitogorsk MHL 19 17 14 31 14

21 Ilya Nikolayev (F) Loko Yaroslavl MHL 41 10 15 25 26
22 Matthew Robertson (D) Edmonton Oil Kings WHL 52 7 26 33 26
23 Ryan Suzuki (C) Barrie Colts OHL 65 25 50 75 14
24 Thomas Harley (D) Mississauga Steelheads OHL 68 11 47 58 24
25 Nils Höglander (LW) Rögle BK SHL 50 7 7 14 22
26 Cole Caufield (C/RW) U.S. National U18 Team USDP 53 52 24 76 30
27 Raphaël Lavoie (C/RW) Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 62 32 41 73 31
28 Brett Leason (C) Prince Albert Raiders WHL 55 36 53 89 28
29 Connor McMichael (C) London Knights OHL 67 36 36 72 19
30 Philip Tomasino (C) Niagara IceDogs OHL 67 34 38 72 32

31 Jakob Pelletier (LW) Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 65 39 50 89 24

Here are the top 50 free agent LWs. If the Pens have cap space, whom do you think they would go after?

1. Artemi Panarin Columbus Blue JacketsCBJ 26 LW Right 72 25 52 77 1.07 8 177 0.14 19:59 - - - - - UFA $6,000,000 $6,000,000
2. Jeff Skinner Buffalo SabresBUF 26 LW, RW Left 74 37 22 59 0.80 -2 242 0.15 18:36 - - - - - NMC UFA $5,725,000 $6,000,000
3. Matt Moulson Buffalo SabresBUF 34 LW Left 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.00 - - - - - M-NTC UFA $5,000,000 $3,000,000
4. Jori Lehterä Philadelphia FlyersPHI 30 LW, C Left 27 1 2 3 0.11 -7 17 0.06 09:06 - - - - - UFA $4,700,000 $5,000,000
5. Carl Hagelin Washington CapitalsWSH 29 LW Left 52 5 11 16 0.31 4 89 0.06 14:01 - - - - - UFA $4,000,000 $3,666,000
6. Anders Lee New York IslandersNYI 27 LW, C Left 76 27 20 47 0.62 17 196 0.14 17:07 - - - - - UFA $3,750,000 $5,000,000
7. Jamie McGinn Florida PanthersFLA 29 LW, RW Left 17 4 3 7 0.41 -3 21 0.19 10:45 - - - - - UFA $3,333,333 $3,500,000
8. André Burakovsky Washington CapitalsWSH 23 LW, RW Left 70 12 12 24 0.34 0 94 0.13 11:02 - - - - - RFA $3,000,000 $3,250,000
9. Thomas Vanek Detroit Red WingsDET 34 LW, RW Right 64 16 20 36 0.56 -12 108 0.15 14:06 - - - - - NTC UFA $3,000,000 $3,000,000
10. Richard Pánik Arizona CoyotesARI 27 LW, RW Left 70 13 19 32 0.46 -2 124 0.10 16:32 - - - - - UFA $2,800,000 $2,800,000
11. Brian Boyle Nashville PredatorsNSH 33 LW, C Left 67 18 6 24 0.36 -14 116 0.16 13:22 - - - - - M-NTC UFA $2,550,000 $2,500,000
12. Michael Raffl Philadelphia FlyersPHI 29 LW, RW Left 61 6 12 18 0.30 2 59 0.10 11:37 - - - - - UFA $2,350,000 $2,350,000
13. Mattias Janmark Dallas StarsDAL 25 LW, C Left 74 6 16 22 0.30 -4 97 0.06 15:17 - - - - - RFA $2,300,000 $2,300,000
14. Riley Sheahan Florida PanthersFLA 26 LW, C Left 75 8 9 17 0.23 -11 99 0.08 14:38 - - - - - UFA $2,100,000 $2,100,000
15. Tobias Rieder Edmonton OilersEDM 25 LW, RW Left 61 0 11 11 0.18 -7 81 0.00 12:40 - - - - - RFA $2,000,000 $2,000,000
16. Ryan Dzingel Columbus Blue JacketsCBJ 26 LW, RW, C Left 71 24 28 52 0.73 -10 149 0.16 14:11 - - - - - UFA $1,800,000 $2,100,000
17. Patrick Maroon St. Louis BluesSTL 30 LW, RW Left 67 9 16 25 0.37 -5 110 0.08 14:13 - - - - - NTC UFA $1,750,000 $1,750,000
18. Micheal Ferland Carolina HurricanesCAR 26 LW, RW Left 64 17 21 38 0.59 16 145 0.12 14:11 - - - - - UFA $1,750,000 $1,800,000
19. Oscar Lindberg Ottawa SenatorsOTT 26 LW, C Left 48 9 9 18 0.38 3 84 0.11 12:45 - - - - - UFA $1,700,000 $1,800,000
20. Pierre-Édouard Bellemare Vegas Golden KnightsVGK 33 LW, C Left 72 5 9 14 0.19 2 98 0.05 12:23 - - - - - UFA $1,450,000 $1,450,000
21. Tomas Nosek Vegas Golden KnightsVGK 25 LW, RW Left 62 8 9 17 0.27 -7 103 0.08 12:30 - - - - - RFA $962,500 $962,500
22. Gabriel Bourque Colorado AvalancheCOL 27 LW, RW Left 49 1 5 6 0.12 1 29 0.03 09:48 - - - - - UFA $950,000 $950,000
23. Josh Leivo Vancouver CanucksVAN 25 LW Right 70 13 9 22 0.31 4 133 0.10 10:32 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
24. Robby Fabbri St. Louis BluesSTL 22 LW, C Left 30 2 3 5 0.17 -6 38 0.05 12:41 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
25. Jayce Hawryluk Florida PanthersFLA 22 LW, C Right 36 5 4 9 0.25 -4 30 0.17 09:05 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
26. Kyle Connor Winnipeg JetsWPG 21 LW Left 75 32 29 61 0.81 -4 208 0.15 19:05 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
27. Patrik Laine Winnipeg JetsWPG 20 LW, RW Right 75 29 20 49 0.65 -17 231 0.13 17:15 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
28. Matthew Tkachuk Calgary FlamesCGY 20 LW Left 75 34 42 76 1.01 18 195 0.17 17:35 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
29. Alex Iafallo Los Angeles KingsLAK 24 LW, C Left 74 14 17 31 0.42 -13 134 0.10 16:53 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
30. Henrik Haapala Florida PanthersFLA 24 LW, RW Left 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.00 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
31. Dylan Sikura Chicago BlackhawksCHI 23 LW, RW, C Left 29 0 8 8 0.28 4 48 0.00 10:58 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
32. Eric Robinson Columbus Blue JacketsCBJ 23 LW Left 13 0 0 0 0.00 -4 18 0.00 11:50 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
33. Sheldon Rempal Los Angeles KingsLAK 22 LW, RW Left 7 0 0 0 0.00 -1 3 0.00 08:44 - - - - - RFA $925,000 $925,000
34. Pär Lindholm Winnipeg JetsWPG 26 LW, C Left 63 1 11 12 0.19 4 63 0.02 11:26 - - - - - UFA $925,000 $925,000
35. Magnus Pääjärvi Ottawa SenatorsOTT 27 LW, RW Left 73 9 6 15 0.21 -16 108 0.08 13:26 - - - - - UFA $900,000 $900,000
36. Timo Meier San Jose SharksSJS 21 LW, RW Left 72 28 33 61 0.85 11 233 0.12 17:01 - - - - - RFA $894,167 $832,500
37. Lawson Crouse Arizona CoyotesARI 21 LW Left 75 11 11 22 0.29 2 115 0.10 12:51 - - - - - RFA $894,167 $832,500
38. Anthony Beauvillier New York IslandersNYI 21 LW Left 75 16 8 24 0.32 -3 144 0.11 14:49 - - - - - RFA $894,167 $832,500
39. Brock McGinn Carolina HurricanesCAR 24 LW, RW Left 75 9 13 22 0.29 7 113 0.08 14:31 - - - - - RFA $887,500 $900,000
40. Hampus Gustafsson Washington CapitalsWSH 24 LW, C Left 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.00 - - - - - RFA $883,750 $925,000
41. Dylan Sadowy Detroit Red WingsDET 22 LW Left 0 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.00 - - - - - RFA $880,833 $925,000
42. Ryan Hartman Philadelphia FlyersPHI 23 LW, RW Right 77 11 13 24 0.31 2 135 0.08 13:26 - - - - - RFA $875,000 $875,000
43. Zachary Sanford St. Louis BluesSTL 23 LW Left 54 7 11 18 0.33 7 73 0.10 12:48 - - - - - RFA $875,000 $875,000
44. C.J. Smith Buffalo SabresBUF 23 LW Left 11 2 0 2 0.18 0 18 0.11 10:39 - - - - - RFA $874,125 $874,125
45. Kevin Fiala Minnesota WildMIN 21 LW Left 77 12 26 38 0.49 -18 157 0.08 17:40 - - - - - RFA $863,333 $832,500
46. Nikolay Goldobin Vancouver CanucksVAN 22 LW Left 63 7 20 27 0.43 -10 105 0.07 14:59 - - - - - RFA $863,333 $832,500
47. Nikita Scherbak Los Angeles KingsLAK 22 LW, RW Left 8 1 0 1 0.13 -4 12 0.08 10:10 - - - - - RFA $863,333 $832,500
48. Jakub Vrána Washington CapitalsWSH 22 LW Left 76 22 23 45 0.59 20 147 0.15 14:02 - - - - - RFA $863,333 $832,500
49. Michael Dal Colle New York IslandersNYI 22 LW Left 23 2 3 5 0.22 5 23 0.09 11:51 - - - - - RFA $863,333 $832,500
50. Sonny Milano Columbus Blue JacketsCBJ 22 LW Left 8 1 0 1 0.13 0 5 0.20 08:19 - - - - - RFA $863,333 $832,500

You can't fault him for being injured. Hell he missed weeks for a broken hand when he dropped the gloves, something that needed done and no one else did.
He's a good young player. He's earned his pay raise. He's proven he can play at this level. 8 goals in 43 games. Give him some credit. There are other players in this league providing far less and making more than 1 million.

most of those are RFA and not even on the market.
The draft is too hard to predict at the bottom of the 1st round. No sense even trying.

I like him a lot as a player, but 1million is about right for him right now, he hasn't played a ton at the nhl level, so unless they do a longer term deal, he wont get much of a raise. It doesn't have much to do with ZAR himself, just how the league works.

no it's not. They made the mistake of putting him down at the beginning of the year. That's on them not ZAR. He's been a reliable player. He'll probably get 2 mil a year to 1.75 mil per year. He's easily a top 9 forward not a league minimum 4th liner.

again, that's not how it works. Its not based on what he would have done had he been up here and healthy for the entire year, he is just coming off his ELC and has only played 60 nhl games total in his career so far. He will be a top 9 forward, doesn't mean he will immediately get paid like one.

again no that isn't how it works. You are talking about a player who is arbitration eligible and can make the case for a pay raise. He'll get more than 1 million. Especially given what he made this year.

yes he made 900k, he isn't getting double that next season unless he signs a longer term deal.

Like I said, he's arbitration eligible. No team wants to go to arbitration. 1.75 to 2 million for a player who spent half his time this year on the 2nd line and played well is fair. They know he's a 2nd to 3rd line player not a 4th line guy. He plays good minutes. I don't know how you don't see that 1.75 for him is a steal. The penguins will gladly pay it and avoid going to arbitration. It's clear he's out playing his rookie deal.

almost everybody outplays their rookie deal, not many of them get double the following year if its just a one year deal. If they signed him for like 3 years I would see 2mil as a great deal for the team that I would love for them to do. But if its only 1 year than a small raise is normal. So 1-1.3

anyone with his numbers who goes to arbitration is getting a pay bump. I don't know why you argue. No team wants to go to arbitration, because the player usually wins. Hell they gave Sheary 3 million a year to avoid it and he clearly was not worth 3 million a year. ZAR will get his pay bumped. He's earned it.

I expect a 1 year show me deal around 1 million but likely less. Just because he wasn't healthy for a large portion of the season. Its a play a full season and produce and we will pay you contract.

In the AHL sure, NHL, no.


He is a solid bottom 6 checker. I like the kid, and his energy is great, but there are 100 of him in the league. He could be the posterboy for the $1M contract. (at least less than $1.5M)

Then again... Rutherford is HORRIBLE at giving out contracts.

did you really just call a guy who dropped in 8 goals in 43 games a bottom 6 checker?
Hell you played Hags on the 2nd line and he had 1 goal in 40 some games?
Just give that up. Stop hating on the kid. He's got game.

he has played 60 games, what part of that don't you understand? the norm is a slight pay raise, not double his current salary, NOBODY goes from 60 games played on ELC to double that for one year. I really don't know how you can argue otherwise. Go find ONE player who doubled their aav on a one year deal, after only playing 60 games on their ELC.

He played 52 games in the AHL as well. They know what they got in him.

It's not even about how many games you have played. It's about what you DID with your time on the ice. You can't say his play hasn't been impressive. That's just blind to the facts. Why you are hell bent on the kid earning some cash for his good play and the crap he's been through is beyond me. He's earned it.