There are several players in the European leagues whose rights are owned by an NHL team. Players drafted out of Europe before the 2005 NHL Entry Draft had their rights held indefinitely by their respective NHL team; however, within the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), any player from Europe who is drafted must be signed within 2 seasons or his rights are lost. Also, the player must not turn 22 years of age before January 1 of that draft year in order to be eligible (this rule applies for North Americans as well). If any player joins an NCAA program the fall after his draft year, his rights are held by the NHL team until 90 days after his date of graduation.

Now why is all of that important? Because several players as you will see in the guide are listed with an "@" sign, which signifies that he was drafted prior to 2005, and thus his NHL rights are held indefinitely by the named NHL team. However, it is highly unlikely that these players will play with their NHL club in the near future, and thus should most likely remain with their respective European club. It is up to you to decide if you would like to bring any named player over to his NHL/AHL team for use in Be A GM mode - none of the listed players are currently in the NHL or AHL.


European League NHL Prospects
*I will update this guide as necessary.