Why Predators Reassigned Then Recalled Mark Jankowski 24 Hours Apart

Many are likely wondering why Nashville Predators center Mark Jankowski was reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday only to be recalled back to the team on Monday afternoon. 

To put it simply: it was a classic paper transaction — one that those familiar with the NHL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement see quite often but one that may catch the casual observer a bit off guard. So, let’s explain.

By reassigning Jankowski to Milwaukee, Nashville not only saved approximately $4,000 on his salary-cap hit but it also saved a calendar day on the amount of time Jankowski can spend on the Predators active roster for waiver-exemption purposes.

Nashville plays in Las Vegas on Tuesday against the Golden Knights, so with Monday being a travel day, it benefited the Predators to have Jankowski travel with the team, which is why the extra day on Monday was not used. If Nashville was playing at home and Jankowski could stay in Nashville, he likely would not have been recalled until Tuesday before the game.

Here are the specifics:

Jankowski signed a one-year, $775,000 one-way contract with the Predators last March. This means his salary is $775,000 regardless of whether he’s in the AHL or NHL. However, the daily cap hit this season is based on how many days of the regular season he is on the active NHL roster. There are 192 days in the 2023-24 regular season, meaning Nashville saved $4,036.50 on Jankowski’s salary by having him technically listed as being in the AHL for one day. 

Jankowski has accumulated a total cap hit of $40,365 to this point because he’s been on the Predators’ active roster for 10 days this season (Dec. 3-6, Feb. 12-17).

With the way the NHL’s waiver-exempt rules work, Jankowski doesn’t have to clear waivers to be sent back to Milwaukee because he originally cleared waivers back in October when he was reassigned to the Admirals during training camp as the Predators finalized their opening-night roster.

Because of that, he can be on Nashville’s roster for 10 games or 30 calendar days before needing to pass back through waivers to be reassigned to the AHL. Denis Gurianov recently went through the same process and had this waiver exemption expire not that long ago.

As of today, Jankowski has five more NHL games or 19 more calendar days before his waiver-exemption expires. It’s likely this won’t be the last time that Jankowski will be involved in a paper transaction. Be sure to follow Nashville Hockey Now to stay  up to date on contract nuances outlined in the CBA, like this one. 

Follow Clay Brewer on Twitter/X: @ClayBrewer10

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