The Leafs have had multiple forward injuries and multiple goalie injuries at the same time in the last few weeks, and they’ve been calling up players to fill in on an emergency basis. Emergency recalls have very specific rules, and there is one key reason whey they are being used right now.
The two relevant sections of the CBA cover the way waiver exemption is determined after a call-up and what the rules are for designating a call-up an emergency.
13.5 Waiver Expiration. The rights granted under this Article to Loan a Player(s) who is otherwise required to clear Regular Waivers to a minor league club expire for any Player(s) who, after clearing Regular Waivers:
(i) is not Loaned to a minor league club, or is Recalled from a minor league club (except on emergency Recall) and remains on an NHL roster for thirty (30) days (cumulative) or plays ten (10) NHL Games (cumulative),
or
(ii) is Recalled from a minor league club on emergency Recall and plays in ten (10) NHL Games (cumulative) while on emergency Recall.