Rule 5 draftee returned years later

[erickatz]

I had a player drafted from me via Rule 5. Two seasons later, the team released the player and was returned to me. Pretty sure once the season ends, the player is property of the drafting team.

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by erickatz

I had a player drafted from me via Rule 5. Two seasons later, the team released the player and was returned to me. Pretty sure once the season ends, the player is property of the drafting team.

The rules are actually a bit more complicated than 'once the season ends, the player is property of the drafting team'.

It depends on how many days they were on the active roster, so if they were on the DL or didn't meet some other requirements, the Rule 5 prohibition period can extend into future seasons. So likely this is not a bug, just the system working as designed (and as it does in real life).