Janis Sprukts, 26, will be with the Panthers after being recalled due to yet another injury - this time, it's Rostislav Olesz.
Olesz injured his groin against Buffalo and didn't practice yesterday. With Sprukts being recalled, I imagine Olesz is a 'no' for tonight.
Sprukts has played in 17 games for the Amerks so far and after a slow start, has started to contribute regularly. The Latvian native has 10 points (4G, 6A) on the season.
In the 2006-2007 season, Sprukts played in thirteen games for the Panthers while on recall from Rochester. That same season, he put up 59 points in 58 games with the Amerks.
One thing I was a little worried about was waivers, but I'm pretty sure that won't be an issue here. Sprukts signed his first SPC when he was 23 years old (2005), but he didn't come over to North America until the following season, so it wasn't until the start of the 2006-2007 season that his contract went into effect.
The CBA states that a player signing his first NHL contract at 23 years old will be exempt from regular season waivers for three years, or 60 NHL games -- whichever comes first. I was nervous, because this is the fourth season since Sprukts signed his contract, but here's what the CBA (13.4) says:
"The first season in which a Player who is age 20 or older plays in one (1) or more Professional Games shall constitute the first year for calculating the number of years he is exempt from Regular Waivers and Re-Entry Waivers."
Professional games include the AHL in this case, and Janis didn't play there until the 2006-2007 season, which means he will remain waiver exempt through the 2008-2009 season.
No comments:
Post a Comment