The Penguins have three players -- Sam Lafferty, Adam Johnson, and Joseph Blandisi -- currently recalled on an emergency basis.
How do emergency recalls differ from standard recalls, and what are the rules surrounding emergency recalls? Let's break it down.
HOW DO EMERGENCY RECALLS WORK IN THE NHL?
When a team is short players "by reason of incapacitating injury or illness or by league suspension to its players," per the CBA, teams recall players by emergency recall. Once the emergency situation has ended, the player must be returned to the team from which he had been recalled, or re-assigned on paper and then recalled via standard recall.
There are benefits to first designating a recall an emergency recall, rather than a standard recall, and we'll get into those below.
WHAT DOES THE NHL CONSIDER AN EMERGENCY SITUATION?
Emergency conditions apply when a team “is reduced below the level of two goalkeepers, six defensemen and 12 forwards,” per the CBA.
A team must be able to provide proof of their emergency situation to the league when requested.
This means that even if a team has enough players to dress, say, seven defenseman and 11 forwards, as teams sometimes do by choice with a healthy roster during the season, it's still considered an emergency situation. If a team doesn't have enough players for four forward lines and three defense pairings, even if they have 18 total healthy skaters otherwise, it's an emergency situation.
Example: The Penguins used three emergency recalls on forwards because they did not have 12 healthy forwards, even though they were carrying extra defensemen.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF FIRST USING AN EMERGENCY RECALL INSTEAD OF A REGULAR RECALL?
When a player is waivers-eligible and recalled to the NHL by a standard recall, they do not need waivers to go back to the AHL if they play fewer than 10 cumulative games or are on the active roster for fewer than 30 cumulative days.
When a player is on emergency recall, the same 10 games/30 days rules apply, but those games and days counters are separate from the games and days accumulated when a player is on a standard recall. So a player can play nine games on an emergency recall, be assigned on paper back to the AHL, then given a standard recall and play another nine games before he'd need waivers.
Example: Blandisi is waivers-eligible, and cleared once at the start of the season. He's on an emergency recall. He can technically play 18 games before needing additional waivers, as he can play nine on the emergency recall then another nine on the standard recall. The Penguins likely won't need (or want) him recalled for that long, but an emergency recall at least gives them the option.
If a player doesn't yet require waivers, like Johnson or Lafferty, there is no reason not to use an emergency recall. If one of those guys is up on an emergency recall and the emergency situation ends but the Penguins still want to keep the player, he would just be returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on paper then recalled via standard recall.
WHO CAN BE RECALLED ON AN EMERGENCY BASIS?
Anyone in the minors on an NHL contract can be recalled on an emergency basis, and teams are usually going to be recalling from their AHL affiliate.
Once a team hits their third emergency recall, as the Penguins already have this season, the rules change.
The NHL and CHL leagues have a transfer agreement that prevents 18- and 19-year-old juniors-eligible players from being assigned to the minors. Teams can keep these players on their NHL roster for the full year or return them to their junior teams, where they must stay for the remainder of the juniors season.
Unless a team hits their third emergency recall. Then, per the NHL and CHL transfer agreement, the team is allowed to bring a player back from juniors.
Bringing a player up from juniors doesn't immediately cause his entry-level contract to kick in. Just as is the case at the beginning of the season, players can play up to nine NHL games before the contract would kick in. Teams could still keep the player beyond nine games and be able to return him to juniors, but that would not be ideal as the player would be burning through a year of his contract.
Example: There may be more recent examples of this happening, but the most recent one I found in a search happened in 2012 with the Flames. In March 2012, the Flames were on their third emergency situation of the season, and were able to recall Sven Baertschi from the WHL.
Example: Since the Penguins are already in the midst of their third emergency situation, they were allowed to recall Nathan Legare or Samuel Poulin from juniors with the most recent recall if they wished to do so.
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