Salary Cap
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 9:43 pm
In 2018-2019 and thereafter, the EHEC salary cap will be $60,000,000, with a floor of $45,000,000. No further increases are planned, as EHM struggles when team budgets exceed $65M.
In 2017-2018, the cap was $58M, and $56M in 2016-17.
A. Salary Cap
Cap numbers are counted on a per-game basis, using the rosters that each team had on the game night (found in players_cap.ehm). To remain compliant, teams must be under the salary cap. This means that their average salary for all of the games played to date must not exceed the cap, and their projected end-of-season average must also not exceed the cap.
Teams that are over the cap will be hounded relentlessly to get under. If a team repeatedly exceeds the cap without appearing to correct the issue, action may be taken in the form of demoted players to the farm (even waiver-eligible players, if necessary), and/or applying penalties, including reducing the team's allowance of games played for their starting goalie. Teams that are over the cap at season end will have the overage applied as a penalty for the next season, as in the NHL.
A.1. Roster Minimum
In the event that a team does not meet the minimum roster requirement of 22 players, an additional cap hit of the league minimum will apply for each unfilled roster spot (e.g. $1.2M for a pro roster of 20 players).
B. Injury Exemption
EHEC follows the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement’s framework on long-term injuries, although with its own alternate rule. When a player is injured for two (2) or more weeks, the team is granted a long-term injured reserve (LTIR) exemption, which allows it to temporarily exceed the salary cap by the amount of the injured player’s salary as long as they remain on the pro roster. The team must get back under the salary cap once the player is listed as day-to-day (DtD).
LTIR exemptions are calculated as of the next game played following the injury and do not change thereafter, unless the player is traded, at which point the exemption is re-calculated once the acquiring team plays their next game following the trade, or if the player is demoted (to the farm), at which point the LTIR exemption is lost. LTIR exemptions are applied on a per-game basis and reduce the team's cap hit to the maximum of (cap total - LTIR, maximum cap). This means that LTIR exemptions have no benefit to teams that are under the cap, and generally speaking, teams are better off sending waiver-exempt players to the farm. Examples, assuming a 60M cap:
A team at 58M has a player with a 3M salary injured. The LTIR exemption is (58M - 60M + 3M) = 1M. The exemption will have no effect unless their total cap hit exceeds 60M; however, the team may maintain a total cap hit of up to 61M while still counting it as 60M. If the player is waiver-ineligible and is sent to the farm, the team's cap hit will be reduced to 55M (plus the salary of the replacement player).
A team at 61M has a player with a 5M salary injured. The LTIR exemption is maxed out at 5M. The team may maintain a total cap hit of up to 66M while having their cap hit counted as only 61M.
C. AHL salaries
There will be $800,000 cap relief for players in the AHL. All players in the AHL making over $800,000 will have the difference in their salary (Salary - $800,000) count towards the cap. Players under 23 years of age as of September 16 (just before the season start) and therefore exempt from waivers under the current rules do not count towards the cap regardless of salary (previously, the cutoff was 24 as of October 1 and not consistent with waiver eligibility).
D. Salary Cap Retention
In order to facilitate trading of potentially overpaid players, teams may opt to retain salary on one or more of the players they are trading away, according to the following rules:
1. Every team has 2 retention slots.
2. Each player can have a maximum of two teams retaining their salary at any time.
3. Teams may choose to retain a maximum of 50% of a player's cap hit for the next two seasons of their contract, including the current season. i.e. if a player has 3 years remaining on their contract, only 1/6 + 1/6 = 1/3 of the total value may be retained.
4. Retention may not reduce a player's cap hit below the league minimum.
5. The cap hit of the retained player is reduced by an amount equal to the total retention, spread evenly over the remaining contract. i.e. if a player has 3 years remaining on their contract, and 1/3 of the total is retained, the player's cap hit is reduced to 2/3 of its current total.
6. The retaining team may choose to spread the retention penalty over either 1 or 2 seasons. E.g if retaining 50% of a 2y, 2M contract, the retention penalty may be either 2y 1M or 1y 2M.
7. Teams may not acquire via trade any player whose rights they owned in the current or previous season.
8. Teams may not re-acquire a player that they are retaining salary on, in order to prevent cap reshuffling via the retention spread option (rule#5).
In 2017-2018, the cap was $58M, and $56M in 2016-17.
A. Salary Cap
Cap numbers are counted on a per-game basis, using the rosters that each team had on the game night (found in players_cap.ehm). To remain compliant, teams must be under the salary cap. This means that their average salary for all of the games played to date must not exceed the cap, and their projected end-of-season average must also not exceed the cap.
Teams that are over the cap will be hounded relentlessly to get under. If a team repeatedly exceeds the cap without appearing to correct the issue, action may be taken in the form of demoted players to the farm (even waiver-eligible players, if necessary), and/or applying penalties, including reducing the team's allowance of games played for their starting goalie. Teams that are over the cap at season end will have the overage applied as a penalty for the next season, as in the NHL.
A.1. Roster Minimum
In the event that a team does not meet the minimum roster requirement of 22 players, an additional cap hit of the league minimum will apply for each unfilled roster spot (e.g. $1.2M for a pro roster of 20 players).
B. Injury Exemption
EHEC follows the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement’s framework on long-term injuries, although with its own alternate rule. When a player is injured for two (2) or more weeks, the team is granted a long-term injured reserve (LTIR) exemption, which allows it to temporarily exceed the salary cap by the amount of the injured player’s salary as long as they remain on the pro roster. The team must get back under the salary cap once the player is listed as day-to-day (DtD).
LTIR exemptions are calculated as of the next game played following the injury and do not change thereafter, unless the player is traded, at which point the exemption is re-calculated once the acquiring team plays their next game following the trade, or if the player is demoted (to the farm), at which point the LTIR exemption is lost. LTIR exemptions are applied on a per-game basis and reduce the team's cap hit to the maximum of (cap total - LTIR, maximum cap). This means that LTIR exemptions have no benefit to teams that are under the cap, and generally speaking, teams are better off sending waiver-exempt players to the farm. Examples, assuming a 60M cap:
A team at 58M has a player with a 3M salary injured. The LTIR exemption is (58M - 60M + 3M) = 1M. The exemption will have no effect unless their total cap hit exceeds 60M; however, the team may maintain a total cap hit of up to 61M while still counting it as 60M. If the player is waiver-ineligible and is sent to the farm, the team's cap hit will be reduced to 55M (plus the salary of the replacement player).
A team at 61M has a player with a 5M salary injured. The LTIR exemption is maxed out at 5M. The team may maintain a total cap hit of up to 66M while having their cap hit counted as only 61M.
C. AHL salaries
There will be $800,000 cap relief for players in the AHL. All players in the AHL making over $800,000 will have the difference in their salary (Salary - $800,000) count towards the cap. Players under 23 years of age as of September 16 (just before the season start) and therefore exempt from waivers under the current rules do not count towards the cap regardless of salary (previously, the cutoff was 24 as of October 1 and not consistent with waiver eligibility).
D. Salary Cap Retention
In order to facilitate trading of potentially overpaid players, teams may opt to retain salary on one or more of the players they are trading away, according to the following rules:
1. Every team has 2 retention slots.
2. Each player can have a maximum of two teams retaining their salary at any time.
3. Teams may choose to retain a maximum of 50% of a player's cap hit for the next two seasons of their contract, including the current season. i.e. if a player has 3 years remaining on their contract, only 1/6 + 1/6 = 1/3 of the total value may be retained.
4. Retention may not reduce a player's cap hit below the league minimum.
5. The cap hit of the retained player is reduced by an amount equal to the total retention, spread evenly over the remaining contract. i.e. if a player has 3 years remaining on their contract, and 1/3 of the total is retained, the player's cap hit is reduced to 2/3 of its current total.
6. The retaining team may choose to spread the retention penalty over either 1 or 2 seasons. E.g if retaining 50% of a 2y, 2M contract, the retention penalty may be either 2y 1M or 1y 2M.
7. Teams may not acquire via trade any player whose rights they owned in the current or previous season.
8. Teams may not re-acquire a player that they are retaining salary on, in order to prevent cap reshuffling via the retention spread option (rule#5).
