??

Can't find the exact rule but I'm pretty sure if a player is under 20, under contract and NOT playing in the NHL, they are exempt from the 50 contract limit

Total NHL contracts per team = 50 (including two-way contracts and NHL contracts in the minors), players who meet the following three conditions do not count to this limit:
1. The player is 18 or 19 years of age.
2. Is in a junior or European league, and
3. who have not played 11 NHL games the current season.

https://www.capfriendly.com/faq#maximum_contracts

thanks, that helps a lot. knew it must be somewhere on this site.