Quoting: Drakin1978
pretty sure Caulfield will be a rfa group 1, 10.2c not offer sheet able when his contract expires. Please correct me if I'm wrong he has not played 3 pro seasons as this will count as his first I believe, he only played 10 regular season games and is considered a rookie this year
I looked at the current CBA for the NHL very carefully before making this post.
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/en/v3/ext/CBA2012/NHL_NHLPA_2013_CBA.pdf
This is what I saw on page 30 that was key:
"For the purposes of this Section 10.2(a), a Player aged 18 or 19 earns a
year of professional experience by playing ten (10) or more NHL Games
in a given NHL Season, and a Player aged 20 or older (or who turns 20
between September 16 and December 31 of the year in which he signs his
first SPC) earns a year of professional experience by playing ten (10) or
more Professional Games under an SPC in a given League Year."
My conclusions:
1. Cole Caufield was 20 years old when he signed his SPC on March 27th.
2. Cole Caufield earned a year of professional experience when he suited up for and participated in his 10th game of the 2020-2021 season (May 12th against the Edmonton Oilers).
3. Cole Caufield needs to play 10 games in each of the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons to earn the three years of professional experience needed to be given an offer-sheet.
Barring some unforeseen circumstances, Cole Caufield will be eligible for an offer-sheet from the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2023 off-season.