NHL Off-Season Schedule

Key Dates:

Thursday July 21st - NHLPA to vote on CBA
Friday July 22nd - NHL Board of Governer's Meeting (CBA ratification, rule changes, draft lottery, and Bettman's Address)
Saturday July 23rd - Contract Buyout Window (closes on Friday July 29th)
Saturday July 3oth - 2005/2006 Entry Draft
Monday August 1st - Free Agency begins

The schedule that teams will follow after the expected ratification:

Saturday, July 23
• Period for initiating compliance buyouts begins
• Period to negotiate and sign 2003 draft picks begins
• Period to extend qualifying offers begins
• Period to negotiate with own club's restricted and unrestricted free agents begins
Thursday, July 28
• Deadline to exercise club and player options for the 2005-06 season
• Deadline to sign 2003 draft picks (if not signed, 2003 draftees will re-enter the 2005 draft)
• Deadline to make required bona fide offers to 2004 draft picks
Friday, July 29
• Deadline for initiating compliance buyouts
Saturday, July 30
• Entry draft
Sunday, July 31
• Deadline to extend qualifying offers
Monday, Aug. 1
• Free-agent signing period begins

Notes on Restricted Free Agency:

Under the new agreement, players earning less than $660,000 (after consideration of the 24 percent rollback) in their last contracted season must be qualified at 110 percent of that salary -- a 10 percent raise.
Players earning between $660,000 and $1 million (after consideration of the rollback) in their last contracted season must be qualified at 105 percent of that salary -- a 5 percent raise.
And, players earning more that $1 million (after consideration of the rollback) in their last contracted season must be qualified at 100 percent of that salary.