Post by JEREMY (Commish) on Jul 9, 2015 21:28:12 GMT
1. Administration:
This league is operated by JEREMY (the Commish).
The goal of this league:
To create a realistic, competitive, fair, and very deep fantasy hockey league with General Managers (GMs), that want the closest thing to owning a real NHL team.
1.1 - League specifics
League will be hosted on Fantrax.com
Managers will be responsible for the upkeep of both their major league team and their minor league team. The league will consist of 30 teams (or more if the real NHL expands). Each team will have a maximum roster size of 23 players (19 minimum) plus an additional minor league team with no max roster (see section 1.3 for salary cap)
4C
3LW
3RW
1W
1F
6D
1G
4 Bench (max 1 goalie on the bench)
TOTAL of 23
Plus Minor League Roster - 26 minors TOTAL for first year.
(6 goalies in total)
1.2 - Scoring
Skaters:
Goals - 3 points
Assists - 2 points
Power Play Points - 1 point
Short Handed Points - 1 point
Game Winning & Shootout Goals - 2 Points
SOG - 0.025
Plus/Minus - 1 point
Takeaway/Giveaway Ratio - 1 point
Faceoff win (only for Centers) - 0.1
Faceoff loss (only for Centers) - 0.05
Blocked Shot - 0.50 points
Hit - 0.30 points
fights - 1 point
TIME ON ICE (Defense only) - 1 point
Goalies:
Games Started - 0.25 points
Win - 2 points
Loss - (-1) point
Goals Against - (-0.5) points
Shutout - 1 point
Saves - 0.2 points
Save % - 0.5 points
Shootout Saves - 0.50 points
1st Star of Game - 1.5 points
1.3 - Salary Cap
Each team has a major league salary cap. GMs are responsible for staying under the cap.
The salary cap is set according to the NHL Salary Cap:
$71.3 million with a base salary of $51 million.
GMs have to keep their team under the $71.3 million cap during the first 23 picks in the draft as well.
1.3.1 - Minor League Salaries
Minor league players will not count toward the major league salary cap as long as they are on the farm team (minor league).
1.4 - Contracts
Players with contracts from league inception will replicate the contracts found here: www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/.
(e.g. if you draft Crosby, you are to pay him $8.7m for the duration of his normal contract)
The Minimum contract any free-agent can be given is $525,000.
Please see Section 4 for rules and instructions on how to issue contracts.
1.5 - Code of ethics
This is simple. Treat everyone with respect. Lets just follow the golden rule. Things can get heated, that’s a given, but this is fantasy hockey, opinions differ, and it’s not meant to be taken personally. If anyone is having a personal problem with another GM, it is strongly suggested that you contact your commish and the issues will be resolved as swiftly as possible. Judging on the wide range of issues that could fall under ethics, each issue will be taken on a case by case bases and decisions will be made accordingly.
1.6 - Activity
All members are expected to check the ProBoard website at least once a week. As long as you check the boards once a week, you will never miss a signing/waiver wire/trade/rule change/etc. Unless you work in a remote area from time to time, then just let the commish know when you aren't around.
1.7 - Starting the League
Before the fantasy draft, each GM will choose 1 team. It can be any current NHL team or team that still existed in the 1990's. (North Stars, Whalers, Nordiques, Mighty Ducks) Duplicate cities are not allowed. So if you pick the Minnesota North Stars, another GM can't be the Minnesota Wild. This is a first-come first-serve basis. Once the NHL expands then we will add those clubs as well via expansion draft.
1.7.1 - Fantasy Draft
The fantasy draft will start as soon as all 30 gms sign up on Fantrax. This will be a SLOW draft. Each team will get 24hrs to make a pick.
Only one goalie will be allowed to be drafted until the 8th round. Only two goalies will be allowed to be drafted until the 21st round. Only three goalies will be allowed to be drafted until the 30th round. Only 6 goalies will be allowed to be drafted in total
1.8 - Tie-Breaker
All tie-breakers (Playoff seed position/draft order) will be decided as follows:
1. Most wins in entire season
2. Head-to-Head Record (2 teams only)
3. Best division record for entire season
4. Lower Cap Hit
2. Minors (Prospects), drafts, draft picks, and farm teams
2.1 - Minors (Prospects)
A prospect is defined as a player who has played fewer than 82 NHL games. Playoff games do not count.
2.1.1: Minor Eligibility
In the case that a player is on a team's farm team and passes his 82 NHL game mark, that team is not required to call up the prospect until the off-season. (e.g. Ekblad has 81 games played. If a team drafts him and places him in the minors, that team can keep him in the minors until next season. (By this time Ekblad will have passed his 82 game mark and will then be required to call up)
2.2 - Draft Picks.
Each team will be awarded three draft picks each off-season. Only 1st round Draft picks can be traded. You can only trade draft picks one off-season in advance.
2.3 - Prospect draft:
The prospect draft will be held annually. The date of the draft will be announced by league officials. Picks Can't be traded during the prospect draft.
A 3-round Entry Level Draft will occur every pre-season after the NHL Entry Draft. This draft is for NHL Rookies that were eligible for the most recent NHL draft (including undrafted players).
Draft order for non-playoff teams will be in the reverse order of the final regular season fantasy hockey standings. Playoff teams will draft in the reverse order of their playoff results (teams eliminated the same week will follow the tiebreaker rules (see Section 1.8) based on their regular season finish).
The Prospect Draft will be live. The 1st round will be 1 minute per pick. The 2nd Round will be 30 seconds per pick. The 3rd round will be 30 seconds per pick.
All NHL rookies not drafted during the rookie draft will go into next years draft pool.
2.3.1 - Skipped Draft Picks:
If a team misses their pick, they will be skipped and the next team will be "on the clock", unless they have sent in a ranked list to the commish prior to the draft. Skipped teams may pick anytime and will not affect the current clock. If a team has a draft pick skipped, then any of their subsequent draft picks will be immediately skipped until the GM signs on again.
A team will not be skipped more than three selections during the first round. The draft will be paused and the commish will make the pick based on that team's needs. This ensures no franchise gets truly hurt by an owner that that is unavailable. After the 1st round, the commish will no longer make selections for skipped picks. Teams with skipped picks may still pick anytime until the final pick of the draft. At that time all skipped picks will have 48 hours to send in their picks. Hopefully any GM that couldn't make it already sent in their list of ranked players that they wanted.
2.3.2 - Prospect Contracts:
All prospects (from the draft) will be given Entry Level Contracts:
18-21: 3-year deal
22-23: 2-year deal
24+: 1-year deal
Round 1: $925,000
Round 2: $800,000
Round 3: $725,000
All other prospects and free agents can be offered regular contracts as described in section 1.4.
2.4 - Lottery Draft Picks
To ensure there is no "tanking" in this league, The FANTASY FANATICS NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE will impose a Lottery Draft. Every team that does not make the playoffs will have a chance at the first overall pick. The likelihood-percentage for each team will be selected by a league vote after league inception.
2.5 - Minor league (farm team):
Each team will have access to a minor league team. These players will not count against your cap unless they have been called up to your PRO Roster. The entry-level contract will also start counting down, in whatever season the prospect is first called up. It doesn't matter if the prospect is called up in the 1st game of the season or the 82nd. The ELC will count off for 1 full season, during the season that they are first called up.
3. Fines, penalties, and final rulings
The commish reserves the right to all final decisions. All decisions will focus on keeping all the teams and league as healthy and competitive as possible. Any Fines will only be made to the guilty teams' salary cap.
3.1 - Salary penalties:
Any team that exceeds the salary cap will be subject to the following penalties as listed. The contract that leads to the cap violation will be considered null and void.
First offense – Warning
Second offence – $1,000,000 against cap
Third offence – $3,000,000 against cap
3.2 - Bidding Penalties:
Please see section 4 for rules regarding UFA/RFA bidding. Teams are expected to have the cap space and compensation available when bidding on all and any RFA/UFA. If this rule is violated penalties are stated in Section 3.3.
3.3 - General Penalties:
Penalties of all origin will be issued under the following list.
1st strike - warning
2nd strike - $1,000,000 against cap
3rd strike - $3,000,000
4th strike - Automatic ban from league
Replacement GMs will not be punished.
3.4 - Retaining Salary in Trades:
Just like the NHL, you may retain salaries in a trade. However, there are rules to abide by.
- You may only retain salaries of 1 player per season.
- You may only retain half of the players current salary PER SEASON. If a player is getting paid $2 million, the max you can retain is $1m.
- All salary retention must be paid in 1 year. If you choose to retain $2 million dollars on a player for the next 3 seasons, your cap penalty will be $6 million for the current season.
- This is to ensure if a GM drops out of the league after a season, the new GM will not be forced to endure the faults of the last GM.
3.5 - Trades
There will be a cap on how many trades you can complete in one year. Any trades that you save up will rollover to the total of next years total alotted trades as well. Extra trades will be given for winning different things during the year as well.
When making a trade, one of the teams in the trade is required to open a new thread under "Trades" with the following format:
For Example
"Toronto & Calgary Trade:"
Toronto Acquires:
S. Crosby
Calgary Acquires:
R. Getzlaf
TOR 1st Round Pick
Team A to confirm.
Team B will then confirm the trade.
Once Team B confirms the trade will be reviewed by the commish. Any trade that seems fishy or unfair in anyway will be put to a vote. Trades put to a vote will need a 65% Approval rating to be passed. The Commish reserves the right to deny any trades that he deems BULL-CRAP, the weaker teams in the standings will almost always be protected from being ripped off.
3.5.1 - Trade Restrictions
A GM....
Can Trade:
- Roster Players
- a 1st round Draft pick
- Prospects
Cannot Trade:
- Salary or cash
- Extension rights
- Compliance Buyout
- 2nd or 3rd round draft picks
4. UFA/RFA and signings
4.1 - UFA:
A UFA is defined as a player who does not have a contract or his contract has expired and exceeds the age of 27. A date will be announced by the Commish when UFA bidding season is open. Any team can bid on a UFA, as long as they have the cap room and roster space. During the inaugural season teams will only be able to sign 1 UFA all year. Each team can only bid on one player at a time.
4.2 - Signing a UFA:
The highest bidder will win the free agent. His salary bid will be the salary for the player. The maximum length for a contract is 4 years.
The bidding structure will be set as follows:
You must always win a bid by at least $250,000 thousand total dollars per year of salary.
Example:
Let's say Team A wants to offer free-agent Kris Russell a contract of $2,000,000 for 3 years.
Team A will make a post saying:
"Team A would like to offer Kris Russell a contract of $2,500,000 for 3 years Time Stamp: 2:20pm"
If Team B would like to out-bid Team A, he/she must make an offer that results in a bid $750,000 thousand dollars higher than Team A.
So $750,000 divided by the 3 years would be a $250,000 dollar increase for each year.
Not Valid: "Team B would like to offer Kris Russell a contract of $2,700,000 for 3 years.
Valid: "Team B would like to offer Kris Russell a contract of $2,750,000 for 3 years.
Please see the Bid Table Thread for further reference.
4.2.1 - Minimum wage
The minimum a GM may sign a player is $525,000.
4.2.2 - Winning a bid
A bid will be won once it has been the winning bid for 1 week.
*You have to have salary cap space available for a bid to be valid. No bid shall be allowed after trade deadline day.
*Hint*: It is acceptable to say "Team A would like to offer Player A a contract of $x for x years. If won, Player B will be waived to make the appropriate cap space room. Once a bid is made that team is locked into commitment and cannot back out. The only way to get out of it, is if another team outbids you.
4.3 - RFA
A player will be counted as an RFA if he is 27 or younger before September 15th of the current year.
When signing a free-agent, if he is 27 or younger he automatically becomes an RFA and is subject to the prospect contract rules described in section 2.3.2.
During free-agency season, a player can be bid on as an RFA but the team who has the rights to the player has the choice of matching the highest offer.
4.3.1- Compensation for RFA's will be as follows:
$999,999 or less - no compensation
$1,110,250 - $1,499,999 - 3rd round draft pick in present season
$1,500,000 - $2,999,999 - 2nd round draft pick in present season
$3,000,000 - $4,999,999 - 1st and 3rd round draft picks in present season.
$5,000,000 - $6,499,999 - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round draft picks in present season.
$6,500,000 - $8,499,999 - two 1st's, a 2nd, and 3rd round draft picks in present season
These picks do not have to be the picks of the team making the offer sheet. They can be picks acquired through other trades.
Each team may elect to bid on 3 RFA's a year, and once they have bid, if they lose it still will count as a # against the RFA's allowed to be bid on.
(e.g. Penguins offer Giroux 4 years @ 5 mil and then hawks out bid them. If the pens decide not to create a counter offer then they will only have 2 more RFA's which can be bid on even though they lost.)
If you are bidding on 2 or 3 RFA's in total you must ensure that you have the adequate picks to do so. If not you will forfeit the offer as well as get a penalty (see section 3.3 General Penalties).
A bid is won once it remains the highest bid for 1 week. Once the bid is won, the GM who holds the RFA'S rights has 1 week to either match the offer, or take the compensation. If there is no answer from the GM, he must take the compensation.
If a player is not bid on, then the GM of that team can come up with a number to extend that player for 1 season. The commish/arbitrator will consult on the 1 year deal, representing the player and determine if the value is fair. You will get 2 attempts to extend the player for the money of your choice. If the commish/arbitrator feels it is not enough he will check the value of the player and the GM will get the option of extending the player for the next season or not. The value given to each player is going to be depending on how many points they got for the last 3 years and how old they are in that off-season. If they elect not to take the deal prescribed then the player will enter free agency and can be bid on by any GM. If the player is still an RFA the next season, the GM can sign them to a long-term extension or let them become a UFA.
4.5 - Bidding On Minor League Players
Bidding on minor league players is the same as bidding on normal UFA and RFA players. However, they do not count towards your cap hit should they be placed in your minor league team. The only time they take up your national league cap is if you bring them up to your main roster.
5. Contract Extensions
Each year your team has the option to extend 3 players from your team. This will allow you some assistance in keeping your core together.
You only get 3 per year, these do not carry over if you don't use all 3. You can only sign someone on an expiring contract. Every team is allowed to extend 3 UFA's or RFA's to a long-term extension per year, but you only get 3 total.
There will be a contracts extension thread where you will post the Player and the team he plays for as well as position. Then write a little blog on what you are offering this player and why you are offering him that amount of money and term. Use comparisons from within the league based on the players position, if there aren't any you may use contracts from the NHL.
The Commish will use the player value chart and if it is passed you will have extended your player. If you fail you will get two more attempts for that player. If you fail all 3 attempts you are able to attempt to re-sign another player on your team.
Max term on an extension is 5-years.
6. Buying Out Players
Teams will realize that juggling cap space is very difficult to do. In some instances you may make a bad choice on signing or drafting a player. You are able to buy out a player on your team however you get a penalty for doing so.
The penalty for buying out a player is half of the players salary as a cap hit for the remainder of said players contract.
(e.g. If Player A is paid $3m for the next 3 seasons, a team will be penalized $1.5m against the cap for the next 3 seasons if they wish to buy him out. Player A would then enter waivers where the team in last place could claim him, going up threw the waiver wire. Any team can claim him at his full salary, and the original team will still be penalized. If Player A does not get bid on during waivers (1 week) he will enter Free agency in which he will then be able to be bid on by all teams (for any contract value).
6.1 Compliance Buy-Out
Each team is issued 1 compliance buy-out. This compliance buy-out can be used to buy-out any player, with no penalty. Compliance buy-outs do not replicate each season.
If you choose to buy-out any player. You lose the ability to bid on them for 10 years.
7. Waivers / Waiver Priority / Claims
Waivers / Re-Entry Waivers
You are allowed to waive an NHL player for assignment to your MINOR-LEAGUE team at anytime. The player that you waive must pass through waivers and go unclaimed in order for them to be assigned to your MINOR-LEAGUE team. If the player is claimed then they become 100% property of the team that won the claim. ALSO, if you have an NHL player on your MINOR-LEAGUE team that you want to 'RE-CALL' for Re-Entry back up to the PRO ROSTER, they must go through waivers AGAIN. Any player that is CLAIMED by another team during a Re-Entry will count against your SALARY CAP at 50% of that players ENTIRE salary. So be careful when sending NHLers down to your MINOR-LEAGUE team. Because if you need them later, there is a good chance they won't pass through waivers on Re-Entry because of the 50% salary rule.
Waiver Priority
The teams in last place will have high waiver priority while the best teams will have a low waiver priority.
Claim
If your team elects to claim a player throughout the NHL season, you will move your team to the lowest waiver priority and will not be able to move up unless other teams make waiver pick-ups themselves.
8. Playoffs
The Playoffs will have the best 16 teams from around the league battle it out for the FFNHL Cup.
The playoffs will be held the last 4 periods of the NHL regular season schedule and will be single elimination. If you lose, you are out.
9. Injured Reserve
- 2 injured reserve spots available.
- Players need to be on the NHL's injured reserve list to be capable to be in FFNHL's injured reserve.
- Once a player is off of the NHL's injured reserve, GMs have 1 week to move him back to their active roster.
- Injured reserve spots do not count towards the roster minimums (unless it keeps you at the minimum).
- Injured reserve players do not count towards your salary cap. However when you want to bring them back (which you have to when there off the IR of the NHL club) you have 1 week to make that room (trade, waivers, whatever it takes). If you are over the cap, a General Penalty (see section 3.3) will apply.
This league is operated by JEREMY (the Commish).
The goal of this league:
To create a realistic, competitive, fair, and very deep fantasy hockey league with General Managers (GMs), that want the closest thing to owning a real NHL team.
1.1 - League specifics
League will be hosted on Fantrax.com
Managers will be responsible for the upkeep of both their major league team and their minor league team. The league will consist of 30 teams (or more if the real NHL expands). Each team will have a maximum roster size of 23 players (19 minimum) plus an additional minor league team with no max roster (see section 1.3 for salary cap)
4C
3LW
3RW
1W
1F
6D
1G
4 Bench (max 1 goalie on the bench)
TOTAL of 23
Plus Minor League Roster - 26 minors TOTAL for first year.
(6 goalies in total)
1.2 - Scoring
Skaters:
Goals - 3 points
Assists - 2 points
Power Play Points - 1 point
Short Handed Points - 1 point
Game Winning & Shootout Goals - 2 Points
SOG - 0.025
Plus/Minus - 1 point
Takeaway/Giveaway Ratio - 1 point
Faceoff win (only for Centers) - 0.1
Faceoff loss (only for Centers) - 0.05
Blocked Shot - 0.50 points
Hit - 0.30 points
fights - 1 point
TIME ON ICE (Defense only) - 1 point
Goalies:
Games Started - 0.25 points
Win - 2 points
Loss - (-1) point
Goals Against - (-0.5) points
Shutout - 1 point
Saves - 0.2 points
Save % - 0.5 points
Shootout Saves - 0.50 points
1st Star of Game - 1.5 points
1.3 - Salary Cap
Each team has a major league salary cap. GMs are responsible for staying under the cap.
The salary cap is set according to the NHL Salary Cap:
$71.3 million with a base salary of $51 million.
GMs have to keep their team under the $71.3 million cap during the first 23 picks in the draft as well.
1.3.1 - Minor League Salaries
Minor league players will not count toward the major league salary cap as long as they are on the farm team (minor league).
1.4 - Contracts
Players with contracts from league inception will replicate the contracts found here: www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/.
(e.g. if you draft Crosby, you are to pay him $8.7m for the duration of his normal contract)
The Minimum contract any free-agent can be given is $525,000.
Please see Section 4 for rules and instructions on how to issue contracts.
1.5 - Code of ethics
This is simple. Treat everyone with respect. Lets just follow the golden rule. Things can get heated, that’s a given, but this is fantasy hockey, opinions differ, and it’s not meant to be taken personally. If anyone is having a personal problem with another GM, it is strongly suggested that you contact your commish and the issues will be resolved as swiftly as possible. Judging on the wide range of issues that could fall under ethics, each issue will be taken on a case by case bases and decisions will be made accordingly.
1.6 - Activity
All members are expected to check the ProBoard website at least once a week. As long as you check the boards once a week, you will never miss a signing/waiver wire/trade/rule change/etc. Unless you work in a remote area from time to time, then just let the commish know when you aren't around.
1.7 - Starting the League
Before the fantasy draft, each GM will choose 1 team. It can be any current NHL team or team that still existed in the 1990's. (North Stars, Whalers, Nordiques, Mighty Ducks) Duplicate cities are not allowed. So if you pick the Minnesota North Stars, another GM can't be the Minnesota Wild. This is a first-come first-serve basis. Once the NHL expands then we will add those clubs as well via expansion draft.
1.7.1 - Fantasy Draft
The fantasy draft will start as soon as all 30 gms sign up on Fantrax. This will be a SLOW draft. Each team will get 24hrs to make a pick.
Only one goalie will be allowed to be drafted until the 8th round. Only two goalies will be allowed to be drafted until the 21st round. Only three goalies will be allowed to be drafted until the 30th round. Only 6 goalies will be allowed to be drafted in total
1.8 - Tie-Breaker
All tie-breakers (Playoff seed position/draft order) will be decided as follows:
1. Most wins in entire season
2. Head-to-Head Record (2 teams only)
3. Best division record for entire season
4. Lower Cap Hit
2. Minors (Prospects), drafts, draft picks, and farm teams
2.1 - Minors (Prospects)
A prospect is defined as a player who has played fewer than 82 NHL games. Playoff games do not count.
2.1.1: Minor Eligibility
In the case that a player is on a team's farm team and passes his 82 NHL game mark, that team is not required to call up the prospect until the off-season. (e.g. Ekblad has 81 games played. If a team drafts him and places him in the minors, that team can keep him in the minors until next season. (By this time Ekblad will have passed his 82 game mark and will then be required to call up)
2.2 - Draft Picks.
Each team will be awarded three draft picks each off-season. Only 1st round Draft picks can be traded. You can only trade draft picks one off-season in advance.
2.3 - Prospect draft:
The prospect draft will be held annually. The date of the draft will be announced by league officials. Picks Can't be traded during the prospect draft.
A 3-round Entry Level Draft will occur every pre-season after the NHL Entry Draft. This draft is for NHL Rookies that were eligible for the most recent NHL draft (including undrafted players).
Draft order for non-playoff teams will be in the reverse order of the final regular season fantasy hockey standings. Playoff teams will draft in the reverse order of their playoff results (teams eliminated the same week will follow the tiebreaker rules (see Section 1.8) based on their regular season finish).
The Prospect Draft will be live. The 1st round will be 1 minute per pick. The 2nd Round will be 30 seconds per pick. The 3rd round will be 30 seconds per pick.
All NHL rookies not drafted during the rookie draft will go into next years draft pool.
2.3.1 - Skipped Draft Picks:
If a team misses their pick, they will be skipped and the next team will be "on the clock", unless they have sent in a ranked list to the commish prior to the draft. Skipped teams may pick anytime and will not affect the current clock. If a team has a draft pick skipped, then any of their subsequent draft picks will be immediately skipped until the GM signs on again.
A team will not be skipped more than three selections during the first round. The draft will be paused and the commish will make the pick based on that team's needs. This ensures no franchise gets truly hurt by an owner that that is unavailable. After the 1st round, the commish will no longer make selections for skipped picks. Teams with skipped picks may still pick anytime until the final pick of the draft. At that time all skipped picks will have 48 hours to send in their picks. Hopefully any GM that couldn't make it already sent in their list of ranked players that they wanted.
2.3.2 - Prospect Contracts:
All prospects (from the draft) will be given Entry Level Contracts:
18-21: 3-year deal
22-23: 2-year deal
24+: 1-year deal
Round 1: $925,000
Round 2: $800,000
Round 3: $725,000
All other prospects and free agents can be offered regular contracts as described in section 1.4.
2.4 - Lottery Draft Picks
To ensure there is no "tanking" in this league, The FANTASY FANATICS NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE will impose a Lottery Draft. Every team that does not make the playoffs will have a chance at the first overall pick. The likelihood-percentage for each team will be selected by a league vote after league inception.
2.5 - Minor league (farm team):
Each team will have access to a minor league team. These players will not count against your cap unless they have been called up to your PRO Roster. The entry-level contract will also start counting down, in whatever season the prospect is first called up. It doesn't matter if the prospect is called up in the 1st game of the season or the 82nd. The ELC will count off for 1 full season, during the season that they are first called up.
3. Fines, penalties, and final rulings
The commish reserves the right to all final decisions. All decisions will focus on keeping all the teams and league as healthy and competitive as possible. Any Fines will only be made to the guilty teams' salary cap.
3.1 - Salary penalties:
Any team that exceeds the salary cap will be subject to the following penalties as listed. The contract that leads to the cap violation will be considered null and void.
First offense – Warning
Second offence – $1,000,000 against cap
Third offence – $3,000,000 against cap
3.2 - Bidding Penalties:
Please see section 4 for rules regarding UFA/RFA bidding. Teams are expected to have the cap space and compensation available when bidding on all and any RFA/UFA. If this rule is violated penalties are stated in Section 3.3.
3.3 - General Penalties:
Penalties of all origin will be issued under the following list.
1st strike - warning
2nd strike - $1,000,000 against cap
3rd strike - $3,000,000
4th strike - Automatic ban from league
Replacement GMs will not be punished.
3.4 - Retaining Salary in Trades:
Just like the NHL, you may retain salaries in a trade. However, there are rules to abide by.
- You may only retain salaries of 1 player per season.
- You may only retain half of the players current salary PER SEASON. If a player is getting paid $2 million, the max you can retain is $1m.
- All salary retention must be paid in 1 year. If you choose to retain $2 million dollars on a player for the next 3 seasons, your cap penalty will be $6 million for the current season.
- This is to ensure if a GM drops out of the league after a season, the new GM will not be forced to endure the faults of the last GM.
3.5 - Trades
There will be a cap on how many trades you can complete in one year. Any trades that you save up will rollover to the total of next years total alotted trades as well. Extra trades will be given for winning different things during the year as well.
When making a trade, one of the teams in the trade is required to open a new thread under "Trades" with the following format:
For Example
"Toronto & Calgary Trade:"
Toronto Acquires:
S. Crosby
Calgary Acquires:
R. Getzlaf
TOR 1st Round Pick
Team A to confirm.
Team B will then confirm the trade.
Once Team B confirms the trade will be reviewed by the commish. Any trade that seems fishy or unfair in anyway will be put to a vote. Trades put to a vote will need a 65% Approval rating to be passed. The Commish reserves the right to deny any trades that he deems BULL-CRAP, the weaker teams in the standings will almost always be protected from being ripped off.
3.5.1 - Trade Restrictions
A GM....
Can Trade:
- Roster Players
- a 1st round Draft pick
- Prospects
Cannot Trade:
- Salary or cash
- Extension rights
- Compliance Buyout
- 2nd or 3rd round draft picks
4. UFA/RFA and signings
4.1 - UFA:
A UFA is defined as a player who does not have a contract or his contract has expired and exceeds the age of 27. A date will be announced by the Commish when UFA bidding season is open. Any team can bid on a UFA, as long as they have the cap room and roster space. During the inaugural season teams will only be able to sign 1 UFA all year. Each team can only bid on one player at a time.
4.2 - Signing a UFA:
The highest bidder will win the free agent. His salary bid will be the salary for the player. The maximum length for a contract is 4 years.
The bidding structure will be set as follows:
You must always win a bid by at least $250,000 thousand total dollars per year of salary.
Example:
Let's say Team A wants to offer free-agent Kris Russell a contract of $2,000,000 for 3 years.
Team A will make a post saying:
"Team A would like to offer Kris Russell a contract of $2,500,000 for 3 years Time Stamp: 2:20pm"
If Team B would like to out-bid Team A, he/she must make an offer that results in a bid $750,000 thousand dollars higher than Team A.
So $750,000 divided by the 3 years would be a $250,000 dollar increase for each year.
Not Valid: "Team B would like to offer Kris Russell a contract of $2,700,000 for 3 years.
Valid: "Team B would like to offer Kris Russell a contract of $2,750,000 for 3 years.
Please see the Bid Table Thread for further reference.
4.2.1 - Minimum wage
The minimum a GM may sign a player is $525,000.
4.2.2 - Winning a bid
A bid will be won once it has been the winning bid for 1 week.
*You have to have salary cap space available for a bid to be valid. No bid shall be allowed after trade deadline day.
*Hint*: It is acceptable to say "Team A would like to offer Player A a contract of $x for x years. If won, Player B will be waived to make the appropriate cap space room. Once a bid is made that team is locked into commitment and cannot back out. The only way to get out of it, is if another team outbids you.
4.3 - RFA
A player will be counted as an RFA if he is 27 or younger before September 15th of the current year.
When signing a free-agent, if he is 27 or younger he automatically becomes an RFA and is subject to the prospect contract rules described in section 2.3.2.
During free-agency season, a player can be bid on as an RFA but the team who has the rights to the player has the choice of matching the highest offer.
4.3.1- Compensation for RFA's will be as follows:
$999,999 or less - no compensation
$1,110,250 - $1,499,999 - 3rd round draft pick in present season
$1,500,000 - $2,999,999 - 2nd round draft pick in present season
$3,000,000 - $4,999,999 - 1st and 3rd round draft picks in present season.
$5,000,000 - $6,499,999 - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round draft picks in present season.
$6,500,000 - $8,499,999 - two 1st's, a 2nd, and 3rd round draft picks in present season
These picks do not have to be the picks of the team making the offer sheet. They can be picks acquired through other trades.
Each team may elect to bid on 3 RFA's a year, and once they have bid, if they lose it still will count as a # against the RFA's allowed to be bid on.
(e.g. Penguins offer Giroux 4 years @ 5 mil and then hawks out bid them. If the pens decide not to create a counter offer then they will only have 2 more RFA's which can be bid on even though they lost.)
If you are bidding on 2 or 3 RFA's in total you must ensure that you have the adequate picks to do so. If not you will forfeit the offer as well as get a penalty (see section 3.3 General Penalties).
A bid is won once it remains the highest bid for 1 week. Once the bid is won, the GM who holds the RFA'S rights has 1 week to either match the offer, or take the compensation. If there is no answer from the GM, he must take the compensation.
If a player is not bid on, then the GM of that team can come up with a number to extend that player for 1 season. The commish/arbitrator will consult on the 1 year deal, representing the player and determine if the value is fair. You will get 2 attempts to extend the player for the money of your choice. If the commish/arbitrator feels it is not enough he will check the value of the player and the GM will get the option of extending the player for the next season or not. The value given to each player is going to be depending on how many points they got for the last 3 years and how old they are in that off-season. If they elect not to take the deal prescribed then the player will enter free agency and can be bid on by any GM. If the player is still an RFA the next season, the GM can sign them to a long-term extension or let them become a UFA.
4.5 - Bidding On Minor League Players
Bidding on minor league players is the same as bidding on normal UFA and RFA players. However, they do not count towards your cap hit should they be placed in your minor league team. The only time they take up your national league cap is if you bring them up to your main roster.
5. Contract Extensions
Each year your team has the option to extend 3 players from your team. This will allow you some assistance in keeping your core together.
You only get 3 per year, these do not carry over if you don't use all 3. You can only sign someone on an expiring contract. Every team is allowed to extend 3 UFA's or RFA's to a long-term extension per year, but you only get 3 total.
There will be a contracts extension thread where you will post the Player and the team he plays for as well as position. Then write a little blog on what you are offering this player and why you are offering him that amount of money and term. Use comparisons from within the league based on the players position, if there aren't any you may use contracts from the NHL.
The Commish will use the player value chart and if it is passed you will have extended your player. If you fail you will get two more attempts for that player. If you fail all 3 attempts you are able to attempt to re-sign another player on your team.
Max term on an extension is 5-years.
6. Buying Out Players
Teams will realize that juggling cap space is very difficult to do. In some instances you may make a bad choice on signing or drafting a player. You are able to buy out a player on your team however you get a penalty for doing so.
The penalty for buying out a player is half of the players salary as a cap hit for the remainder of said players contract.
(e.g. If Player A is paid $3m for the next 3 seasons, a team will be penalized $1.5m against the cap for the next 3 seasons if they wish to buy him out. Player A would then enter waivers where the team in last place could claim him, going up threw the waiver wire. Any team can claim him at his full salary, and the original team will still be penalized. If Player A does not get bid on during waivers (1 week) he will enter Free agency in which he will then be able to be bid on by all teams (for any contract value).
6.1 Compliance Buy-Out
Each team is issued 1 compliance buy-out. This compliance buy-out can be used to buy-out any player, with no penalty. Compliance buy-outs do not replicate each season.
If you choose to buy-out any player. You lose the ability to bid on them for 10 years.
7. Waivers / Waiver Priority / Claims
Waivers / Re-Entry Waivers
You are allowed to waive an NHL player for assignment to your MINOR-LEAGUE team at anytime. The player that you waive must pass through waivers and go unclaimed in order for them to be assigned to your MINOR-LEAGUE team. If the player is claimed then they become 100% property of the team that won the claim. ALSO, if you have an NHL player on your MINOR-LEAGUE team that you want to 'RE-CALL' for Re-Entry back up to the PRO ROSTER, they must go through waivers AGAIN. Any player that is CLAIMED by another team during a Re-Entry will count against your SALARY CAP at 50% of that players ENTIRE salary. So be careful when sending NHLers down to your MINOR-LEAGUE team. Because if you need them later, there is a good chance they won't pass through waivers on Re-Entry because of the 50% salary rule.
Waiver Priority
The teams in last place will have high waiver priority while the best teams will have a low waiver priority.
Claim
If your team elects to claim a player throughout the NHL season, you will move your team to the lowest waiver priority and will not be able to move up unless other teams make waiver pick-ups themselves.
8. Playoffs
The Playoffs will have the best 16 teams from around the league battle it out for the FFNHL Cup.
The playoffs will be held the last 4 periods of the NHL regular season schedule and will be single elimination. If you lose, you are out.
9. Injured Reserve
- 2 injured reserve spots available.
- Players need to be on the NHL's injured reserve list to be capable to be in FFNHL's injured reserve.
- Once a player is off of the NHL's injured reserve, GMs have 1 week to move him back to their active roster.
- Injured reserve spots do not count towards the roster minimums (unless it keeps you at the minimum).
- Injured reserve players do not count towards your salary cap. However when you want to bring them back (which you have to when there off the IR of the NHL club) you have 1 week to make that room (trade, waivers, whatever it takes). If you are over the cap, a General Penalty (see section 3.3) will apply.
