Wisconsin coaches are in the process of adding Mendota Heights (Minn.) winger Chris Hickey to the list of signed recruits for next season, but that doesn't mean an opening has materialized.

 Hickey, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound center, will be the seventh freshman signee and the eighth addition (transfer Tom Bardis) to the roster for 2008-09. Since there are no more unscheduled defections on the horizon --  a la freshman center Kyle Turris, who signed a NHL contract with Phoenix -- the Badgers are projected to open the season with a roster of 29.

 UW has a roster management policy for all its sports -- the main reason is to maintain Title IX compliance -- but the 28-person ceiling previously maintained by men's hockey is not set in stone.

 The addition of Hickey, 19, appears to be tied in part to an element of the recently revised NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement.

 Hickey was taken in the seventh round by Minnesota in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, then played his senior year at Cretin-Derham Hall High School and one season with Tri-City of the U.S. Hockey League, where he totaled 15-16-31 in 55 games in 2007-08.

 According to the CBA, the Wild own Hickey's draft rights for four years and two years have ticked off that clock. Once the window closes, Hickey becomes a free agent.

 In the previous CBA, NHL teams retained the rights to a college player through his senior season.

 For more on the situation, check Thursday's Wisconsin State Journal.