How does this work for someone like Armia? What years are we burning?
Sorry I'm a noob at NHL contract stuff.
Actually, it probably doesn’t affect Armia as much as I forgot he is already playing the minors.
For Junior players, the magic number is 9. If they play 10 games in the NHL, they burn 1 year of their 3 year entry level contract. So if you have an 18 / 19 year old player who you think will be sent back down to juniors, you don’t want to play him that 10th game in a season, or you burn one year of that cheap entry level deal.
The bigger one would be the 40th game. If a player plays 40 NHL games, then he has accrued one year of service towards the seven years required to become an UFA. We are far enough along that there aren’t 40 games left in the season. What I don’t know is if playoffs count towards those 40.
Also, Armia is 21, and you become a UFA at either 7 years of NHL or at the age of 27. He hasn't burnt any RFA years yet, but because of his age, it doesn't matter if we burn one now. He will be a UFA at 27 regardless.
If he is ready, bring him up!