NHL free agent signings

[fastmiele 59]

I have always been confused by July 1st - 12 pm free agent signings, a flurry of signings shortly after the start. I thought teams were not allowed to contact/negotiate deals beforehand. A few days ago I read an article that teams could contact the player/agent 5 days before July 1st and discuss and negotiate a deal, but cannot finalize until the official start. I am somewhat confused because I thought teams with UFA expiring contracts had exclusive rights ?

[IPv6Freely 2092]

If I understood correctly, this year teams were allowed to talk to UFAs a week before the deadline. 

[fastmiele 59]

yes, prior to this year I never heard anything about teams/players/agents being able to discuss contract.

In previous years I thought there was some type of illegal contact going on. How can a player/team agree/draw up a huge contract right at the start of free agent day ? It would reasonable to assume they already had a done deal in place well beforehand.