RULES CHANGES FOR 2015-16 SEASON

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:01 pm

Below is the initial set of changes to league rules, beginning for the 2015-16 season. By "beginning" I mean after the game does its summer rollover, which I believe is June 29 or 30. (Note that this is not the actual date we do our rollover, since our draft usually takes a long time.) There are additional parts of the rulebook that we are continuing to look at; they will be listed after the rules changes below.

Franchise tag -- Franchise Tags will be eliminated and players with these tags will have their salary reset to their "pre-tagged" state, which means multiplying their current salary by 4/3. Their "no trade" clauses will be removed, but contract lengths will remain the same.

Salary Cap -- a 4 million dollar increase, to 68 million.

AHL salaries -- The AHL max salary will be eliminated. There will be $1M cap relief for players in AHL, excepting players on their ELC and those who are not waiver eligible (see below for waiver change). So having certain players making over $1M in the AHL will cost you against the cap.

Waivers -- All players aged 24 and older will be waiver eligible, regardless of salary, experience, hair color, etc.

UFA -- The minimum offer structure will change: you can offer 2/3 of their previous salary (in place of the current 75%) through Aug 31; that reduces to 1/3 starting Sept 1; then basically league minimum starting Opening Night. "Previous salary" means the salary listed on their profile, regardless of when it was signed.

There's also a new rule we're adding regarding contracts, that gives a new wrinkle to re-signing younger players:

All contracts offered for players coming off their ELC will have an extra 10% added to their base salary for every year of the contract, if your offer is for 5-7 years. Contract offers of 1-4 years in length will not be affected. All other players are not affected by this rule, nor are players who are being offered an ELC.

So, for example, if a player finished his ELC and required a $1M salary, you could sign him for...
1-4 years = $1M
5 years = $1.1M
6 years = $1.2M
7 years = $1.3M

Suspensions -- The multipliers for repeat offenders will change in 2015-16. 2nd offense will add 1 game to the suspension; 3rd offense 2 games; 4th+ offense will add 4 games. We'll also start with a clean slate regarding prior offenses (as multipliers), but any suspensions already on the books (coughChipchuracough) will still be enforced.

Also, players with PE rating above 70 will not add multipliers to repeat offenses.

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:14 pm

AnaheimGM · Post by **AnaheimGM** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:40 pm

Nice, I like those new rules!

MartyFromOTTAWA · Post by **MartyFromOTTAWA** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:46 pm

Well, I don't really like this salary cap increase.
In real life, GM gives more money to the players because the cap is raised. In EHEC, the players' contracts would remain the same because the salary system wouldn't change, so I don't understand why the cap would increase...

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:02 pm

MartyFromOTTAWA wrote:Well, I don't really like this salary cap increase.
In real life, GM gives more money to the players because the cap is raised. In EHEC, the players' contracts would remain the same because the salary system wouldn't change, so I don't understand why the cap would increase...

Take a closer look at how the current system works, a players salary increases quite dramatically. In some cases, particularly in a player's 2nd or 3rd contract, they make significantly more then they would in the NHL. In addition, ELC are much more expensive then in the NHL.

The significant raise was needed, and I'm not a cap team or dealing with big expiring contracts this season.

MartyFromOTTAWA · Post by **MartyFromOTTAWA** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:09 pm

I have big contracts on my team and I should be fine with the cap for next season even if it stays at $64M.
We'll lose an edge of parity by increasing the cap...

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:21 pm

MartyFromOTTAWA wrote:I have big contracts on my team and I should be fine with the cap for next season even if it stays at $64M.
We'll lose an edge of parity by increasing the cap...

Could not disagree with this more. Some teams that aren't in the playoff picture are at, or near, the maximum payroll. With last years rule addition limiting a team to only re-signing three players with expiring contracts, the free agency pools are poised to be deeper then ever before.

It puts you in a better position to snatch up the best free agents.

Vik (Habs) · Post by **Vik (Habs)** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 11:20 pm

A couple notes for clarification...

Commish Bub(NYR) wrote:Franchise tag -- Franchise Tags will be eliminated and players with these tags will have their salary reset to their "pre-tagged" state, which means multiplying their current salary by 1.333.

That won't actually be accurate since bonuses would've been applied after the base salary was adjusted down.

Commish Bub(NYR) wrote:AHL salaries -- The AHL max salary will be eliminated. There will be $1M cap relief for players in AHL, excepting players on their ELC and those who are not waiver eligible (see below for waiver change). So having certain players making over $1M in the AHL will cost you against the cap.

So it's just however much they make over $1M that counts against the cap?

Commish Bub(NYR) wrote:Waivers -- All players aged 24 and older will be waiver eligible, regardless of salary, experience, hair color, etc.

Are all players under 24 not eligible or is it still to be based on GP?

Commish Bub(NYR) wrote:UFA -- The minimum offer structure will change: you can offer 66% of their previous salary (in place of the current 75%) through Aug 31; that reduces to 33% starting Sept 1; then basically league minimum starting Opening Night. "Previous salary" means the salary listed on their profile, regardless of when it was signed.

How does it work for players bought out during the season? Can they immediately be signed for the minimum?

Bruins_GM · Post by **Bruins_GM** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 12:44 am

That really makes the AHL worth jack-shit, doesn't it?

Post by **SharksGM** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 8:15 am

Bruins_GM wrote:That really makes the AHL worth jack-shit, doesn't it?

How so?

Vik (Habs) wrote:So it's just however much they make over $1M that counts against the cap?

Yeah, that's basically how it works in the NHL. It means you can bury terrible contracts if you need to but only for a 1M discount.

Vik (Habs) wrote: Are all players under 24 not eligible or is it still to be based on GP?

Age is the only criterion. I suppose we could make players with, say, 150+ GP eligible for waivers, but if anyone manages to get in that many games before they're 24, they're probably not getting sent down.

Vik (Habs) wrote: How does it work for players bought out during the season? Can they immediately be signed for the minimum?

We probably shouldn't allow buyouts well into the season in the first place. But anyway, I suppose we could give them a month or so to go through each tier.

e: Regarding the cap, we'll probably change the way it's calculated and enforced altogether next season. The NHL has actually allowed teams to over the cap during a season, mainly via bonuses, and the usually penalty is to take off that amount from next season's cap, which seems reasonable to me.

Josh-EDM · Post by **Josh-EDM** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 8:36 pm

AHL salaries -- The AHL max salary will be eliminated. There will be $1M cap relief for players in AHL, excepting players on their ELC and those who are not waiver eligible (see below for waiver change). So having certain players making over $1M in the AHL will cost you against the cap.

So is this intended to mean that players on their ELC won't count against the cap while in the AHL?

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:08 pm

Josh-EDM wrote:
AHL salaries -- The AHL max salary will be eliminated. There will be $1M cap relief for players in AHL, excepting players on their ELC and those who are not waiver eligible (see below for waiver change). So having certain players making over $1M in the AHL will cost you against the cap.
So is this intended to mean that players on their ELC won't count against the cap while in the AHL?

Correct. For example, top 10 picks sign for $2.5M ELCs; that won't count against your pro cap.

Dallas Stars GM · Post by **Dallas Stars GM** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 8:05 am

having certain players making over $1M in the AHL will cost you against the cap.

So... it is a good idea to release the players who are making more than $1M (are not on in their ELCs) down in the AHL before the new season starts, huh?

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 11:34 am

Dallas Stars GM wrote:
having certain players making over $1M in the AHL will cost you against the cap.
So... it is a good idea to release the players who are making more than $1M (are not on in their ELCs) down in the AHL before the new season starts, huh?

You can let guys go UFA if they're contracts are up, or you can release them and pay the buyout penalty. It all depends on what you think makes best financial sense for your team. Players that don't cost you to buy them out will obviously have no impact on your cap, whether you release them now or in the fall.

Dallas Stars GM · Post by **Dallas Stars GM** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:55 pm

You can let guys go UFA if they're contracts are up, or you can release them and pay the buyout penalty. It all depends on what you think makes best financial sense for your team. Players that don't cost you to buy them out will obviously have no impact on your cap, whether you release them now or in the fall.

Ok, thanks. I will definitely sort out my AHL players for the next season(s), in late May or in June.

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:59 pm

Also note that players UNDER 24 in the AHL will not count against the EHEC cap, per the rule above. Essentially, if you're not waiver eligible, you won't count against the pro team cap.

Bruins_GM · Post by **Bruins_GM** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 8:23 pm

Just so it`s clear, if I have a 25 year old making 1.1 million on my farm team, only 100,000 counts against the EHEC cap, correct?

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:08 pm

Bruins_GM wrote:Just so it`s clear, if I have a 25 year old making 1.1 million on my farm team, only 100,000 counts against the EHEC cap, correct?

Yep.

Dallas Stars GM · Post by **Dallas Stars GM** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 8:34 am

And if a player is for example 23 yrs old (and not waiver-eligible) and has contract worth more than 1M per year... he does not count against the cap either?

MartyFromOTTAWA · Post by **MartyFromOTTAWA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:06 am

Dallas Stars GM wrote:And if a player is for example 23 yrs old (and not waiver-eligible) and has contract worth more than 1M per year... he does not count against the cap either?

See 3 replies above

BlackHawk Down (Seb) · Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:34 am

So, a guy who was exempted from the cap at 23, will start to count against the cap the day he turns 24 let say in February ?

MartyFromOTTAWA · Post by **MartyFromOTTAWA** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 10:43 am

BlackHawk Down (Seb) wrote:So, a guy who was exempted from the cap at 23, will start to count against the cap the day he turns 24 let say in February ?

Well, if I correctly understand, as soon as a player is waiver-eligible (over 23 yo AND not on ELC), he counts against the cap.

IslandersGM · Post by **IslandersGM** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:54 pm

were we doing two way contracts still? If so does that affect the over 1M salary in the AHL?

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 3:03 pm

IslandersGM wrote:were we doing two way contracts still? If so does that affect the over 1M salary in the AHL?

No. No more 2-way contracts.

Post by **SharksGM** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 8:13 pm

Also we should probably reset every team's budget to ~70M or so to avoid computer GMs going crazy in fastsims.

DaveG-Canes · Post by **DaveG-Canes** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 12:02 pm

SharksGM wrote:Also we should probably reset every team's budget to ~70M or so to avoid computer GMs going crazy in fastsims.

Right there with you on that one.

MartyFromOTTAWA · Post by **MartyFromOTTAWA** » Thu May 28, 2015 12:05 pm

Hmm I was thinking (Yes I am, sometimes), waht about lowering the scoring level a bit?
Because goalies stats are awful (None of them over 90% or below 2.50 GAA).
It would be more realistic, wouldn't it?

Post by **SharksGM** » Thu May 28, 2015 1:33 pm

Yeah seeing Bernier's playoff .882 rank 3rd is less than inspiring... Scoring seems to be up even more in the playoffs. But I don't think the scoring is that far off, it's the shot totals and sv% that are too low. Is there a way to adjust both?

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Thu May 28, 2015 4:07 pm

Not sure how to make those changes, Dan. One thing I've always done when playing at home, is to turn scoring and fighting way down in the playoffs. Makes goalies look better, you actually get some playoff shutouts, and it fits closer to playoff hockey (vs regular season). Not sure I want to change the regular season sliders, tho. I like scoring where it is now, even if our goalies stats look like crap.

Calgary.Flames · Post by **Calgary.Flames** » Fri May 29, 2015 2:07 pm

Leave it like it is. There are only a few goalies that are actually worth something... let's not change that.
Do not turn players with "no-value" into potential game-changers.

Josh-EDM · Post by **Josh-EDM** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 2:26 pm

Commish Bub(NYR) wrote:Not sure how to make those changes, Dan. One thing I've always done when playing at home, is to turn scoring and fighting way down in the playoffs. Makes goalies look better, you actually get some playoff shutouts, and it fits closer to playoff hockey (vs regular season). Not sure I want to change the regular season sliders, tho. I like scoring where it is now, even if our goalies stats look like crap.

It's all relative. Just adjust your view of what quality is in-game. If .900 is elite then .900 is elite. Focusing on specific numbers in this case is a waste of time because there is no way to make a 100% accurate game.

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 6:43 pm

In the original post, Bub said that the Franchise Tag would be eliminated and therefore all tagged players will have their salary increased by 1.33 (or 33%). Section G of the rulebook says discounts are 25%, so would it not be increased by 1.25?

Calgary.Flames · Post by **Calgary.Flames** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 8:53 pm

No. 25% discount means your player was paid at 75%. The opposite of 3/4 is 4/3.
Try it with numbers.

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 9:15 pm

Calgary.Flames wrote:No. 25% discount means your player was paid at 75%. The opposite of 3/4 is 4/3.
Try it with numbers.

Player A awarded a $10,000,000 contract. 25% discount is $2,500,000

10-2.5 = $7,500,000....

?

Vik (Habs) · Post by **Vik (Habs)** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 11:04 pm

Tampa Bay GM wrote:
Calgary.Flames wrote:No. 25% discount means your player was paid at 75%. The opposite of 3/4 is 4/3.
Try it with numbers.
Player A awarded a $10,000,000 contract. 25% discount is $2,500,000

10-2.5 = $7,500,000.... ?

7.5M * 1.33 = $10M

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 11:26 pm

Vik (Habs) wrote:
Tampa Bay GM wrote:
Calgary.Flames wrote:No. 25% discount means your player was paid at 75%. The opposite of 3/4 is 4/3.
Try it with numbers.
Player A awarded a $10,000,000 contract. 25% discount is $2,500,000

10-2.5 = $7,500,000.... ?
7.5M * 1.33 = $10M

Not denying that, but wouldn't multiplying by 1.33 indicate the discount was 33% or 1/3 of the contract?

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 11:59 pm

ty ty

Vik (Habs) · Post by **Vik (Habs)** » Fri Jun 05, 2015 11:59 pm

Tampa Bay GM wrote:
Vik (Habs) wrote:
Tampa Bay GM wrote:
Calgary.Flames wrote:No. 25% discount means your player was paid at 75%. The opposite of 3/4 is 4/3.
Try it with numbers.
Player A awarded a $10,000,000 contract. 25% discount is $2,500,000

10-2.5 = $7,500,000.... ?
7.5M * 1.33 = $10M
Not denying that, but wouldn't multiplying by 1.33 indicate the discount was 33% or 1/3 of the contract?

x - (x * 1/4) = 7.5
x * (1 - 1/4) = 7.5
x * 3/4 = 7.5
x = 7.5 * 4/3
x = 10

IslandersGM · Post by **IslandersGM** » Sat Jun 06, 2015 12:38 am

damn fractions!! lol

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:22 pm

There's also a new rule we're adding regarding contracts, that gives a new wrinkle to re-signing younger players:

All contracts offered for players coming off their ELC will have an extra 10% added to their base salary for every year of the contract, if your offer is for 5-7 years. Contract offers of 1-4 years in length will not be affected. All other players are not affected by this rule, nor are players who are being offered an ELC.

Vik (Habs) · Post by **Vik (Habs)** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:31 pm

Commish Bub(NYR) wrote:There's also a new rule we're adding regarding contracts, that gives a new wrinkle to re-signing younger players:

All contracts offered for players coming off their ELC will have an extra 10% added to their base salary for every year of the contract, if your offer is for 5-7 years. Contract offers of 1-4 years in length will not be affected. All other players are not affected by this rule, nor are players who are being offered an ELC.

So, for example, if a player finished his ELC and required a $1M salary, you could sign him for...
1-4 years = $1M
5 years = $1.1M
6 years = $1.2M
7 years = $1.3M

That the idea? And when you say base salary, do you mean the base salary in the calculator or the salary after bonus adjustments?

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:36 pm

I understood it...

1-4 years = $1M
5 years = $1.1M
6 years = $1.1M
7 years = $1.1M

Vik (Habs) · Post by **Vik (Habs)** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:38 pm

Tampa Bay GM wrote:I understood it...

1-4 years = $1M
5 years = $1.1M
6 years = $1.1M
7 years = $1.1M

Looking at it again, he said it's added for every year of the contract so now I'm thinking it's...
1-4 years = $1M
5 years = $1.5M
6 years = $1.6M
7 years = $1.7M

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:43 pm

Yikes, this is getting out of control.

Bub will clarify of course.

Post by **SharksGM** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 12:05 am

Vik (Habs) wrote:
Commish Bub(NYR) wrote:There's also a new rule we're adding regarding contracts, that gives a new wrinkle to re-signing younger players:

All contracts offered for players coming off their ELC will have an extra 10% added to their base salary for every year of the contract, if your offer is for 5-7 years. Contract offers of 1-4 years in length will not be affected. All other players are not affected by this rule, nor are players who are being offered an ELC.
So, for example, if a player finished his ELC and required a $1M salary, you could sign him for...
1-4 years = $1M
5 years = $1.1M
6 years = $1.2M
7 years = $1.3M

That the idea? And when you say base salary, do you mean the base salary in the calculator or the salary after bonus adjustments?

This is what I had in mind, but Bub can clarify.

It don't think it matters much but for the sake of argument let's say it's after adjustments.

The idea is so that you have to think about whether you want to commit to a player for 7 years or not. Right now there's no downside to signing every good youngster coming off their ELC to a 7 year deal. And these 7 year x $1.5M deals aren't realistic.

TorontoGM · Post by **TorontoGM** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 1:22 am

Of course, I post my offers and two hours later you announce a new contract rule.

Post by **SharksGM** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:52 am

TorontoGM wrote:Of course, I post my offers and two hours later you announce a new contract rule.

Such is life. But if it makes you feel better, Galchenyuk's third contract will probably be under $5M. Also, there needed to be a rule against the Leafs signing David Clarkson for 7 years.

TorontoGM · Post by **TorontoGM** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 1:46 pm

Probably should have mentioned the possibility of a rule change regarding contract offers BEFORE you tell us to go ahead and post them. Just saying.

Commish Bub(NYR) · Post by **Commish Bub(NYR)** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 4:35 pm

You got a point there, Mike. And next time we'll get our acts together sooner. You can, of course, change any your offers. Nothing's in stone (re offers) until we begin implementing them, and that won't be for a few weeks yet.

I did have the sliding scale upwards in mind, like Dan. Sorry to be obtuse in my post.

Jets GM · Post by **Jets GM** » Thu Jun 25, 2015 4:38 pm

There was big changes that needed to be made this season; I'm just thankful we had the leadership group that got em' done in a reasonable amount of time.