Re-Entry Waivers

The news is in that Sheldon Souray and Martin Gerber have both cleared waivers.  I don't know what will end up happening with Souray, but Gerber is almost certainly off to Oklahoma City.  But what if, at some point, the Oilers decide whichever young goalie they have in the backup spot isn't cutting it, and they decide to bring him up?  Will he need to clear re-entry waivers?  No sir.  Here's the (long enough that you may not want to read) relevant section of the CBA (50.9(g)):

Neither the salaries nor signing bonuses paid to minor league Players shall be counted against a Club's Upper Limit or the Players' Share.  For a Player on a One-Way NHL Contract or a Two-Way Contract with a Minor League Salary and compensation that could be earned in excess of... $105,000... the following rules shall apply:

(i) To the extent the Player does not require Waivers to be loaned to a minor league affiliate, he can be freely loaned and recalled; and

(ii) To the extent the Player does require Waivers to be loaned to a minor league affiliate, he cannot be Loaned or recalled without first clearing regular Waivers, and then cannot be Recalled to the NHL parent Club during the same League Year without also clearing a new Re-Entry Waiver procedure, pursuant to which the Player can be claimed by another NHL Club for fifty (50) percent of the contract's remaining amounts to be paid, with the balance to be paid by and charged to the waiving NHL Club (both amounts to be counted against each Club's Upper Limit, Actual Club Salary and Averaged Club Salary, and counted against the Players' Share); and

(iii) For a Player on an AHL contract with a Minor League Salary and compensation that could be earned in excess of the applicable amount set forth above in this Section 50.9(g), who signs an NHL SPC for the same season with the AHL team's NHL affiliated Club, the Player must first clear the new Re-EntryWaiver procedure, pursuant to which the Player can be claimed by another unaffiliated NHL team for fifty (50) percent of the SPC's remaining amounts to be paid, with the balance to be paid by and charged to the original NHL affiliated Club signing the contract (both amounts to be counted against each Club's Upper Limit, Actual Club Salary, and Averaged Club Salary and counted against the Players' Share).

The Re-Entry Waiver procedure will not, however, be applicable to Veteran Minor League Players defined as follows: (i) for goaltenders, Players who have: (A) played in 180 or more professional games in North America (NHL, AHL and ECHL), and (B) not spent more than 80 NHL games on NHL roster over the prior two (2) seasons or more than 40 NHL games on NHL roster in the immediately prior season; and (ii) for defensemen and forwards, Players who have: (A) played in 320 or more professional games in North America (NHL, AHL and ECHL), and (B) not spent more than 80 NHL games on NHL roster over the prior two (2) seasons or more than 40 NHL games on NHL roster in the immediately prior season.

NHL games missed due to a Player being on Injured Reserve or Injured Non-Roster count for purposes of determining whether a Player has surpassed the 80 or 40 NHL game thresholds, respectively.

In Gerber's case, his AHL salary is high enough that he'd normally need to clear re-entry waivers, but because he didn't compete in North America in 2009-10 and spent some time in the minors in 2008-09, he remains exempt from re-entry waivers.  After the jump, we'll look through the players on the Oilers' roster and determine which players do not need to clear re-entry waivers if they get sent down.

I should first point out that anyone on an entry-level contract does not need to clear either waivers or re-entry waivers when they get sent down or called up.  Of the players who aren't on entry-level deals, the following guys don't need to clear re-entry waivers:

I should first point out that all of the above do need to clear waivers on their way down to the AHL. Nonetheless, almost every player the Oilers will consider sending to the AHL over the next several days doesn't need to clear re-entry waivers in order to be recalled.  The major exceptions to this are the two young goalies, Steve MacIntyre, and apparently, Ryan Jones. 

With the goalies, it's not really a big deal.  If Nikolai Khabibulin is injured, another player can be recalled on an emergency basis without needing to clear reentry waivers.  That means there's every chance we'll see JDDDD make a comeback when the inevitable injury hits. 

For Jones, this could be something that tips a tie in his favour.  If, in fact, there is some debate on whether the Oilers should keep Jones or Reddox, the fact that Jones needs to clear re-entry waivers to be recalled should help him to win that battle if it ends up in a virtual tie. 

Finally, MacIntyre.  Clearly, the Oilers want him on the NHL roster all year.  In 2009-10 he was sent back and forth to the AHL more than a couple of times depending on the Panthers' opponent, and because of his $105,000 AHL salary, he didn't need to clear re-entry waivers to be called up.  This year, the Oilers don't have that luxury, which will likely act as an incentive to keep him in Edmonton for the entire year.