[Discussion] Player contracts, draft, and how it could work
This is an ongoing form of my idea on how player contracts could be implemented in the LHL/RSL. It sets a standard for team ownership of player rights, creates prestige for the LHL, and attempts to handle some of the issues with LHL/RSL call-ups.
Much of the basis for this can be found in Article V - Rosters and Transactions, particularly Section 5.
If you guys can come to a consensus and think you might want to implement this for next season, I can make a quick youtube video explaining it all a little quicker and simpler.
Posted Oct 16, 2014, 5:33 AM UTC · edited
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Contracts refers more to a status than a seasonal length. Player contracts can be:
GM: GM of the team
V: Veteran. Has played a full season in the LHL or RSL
R: Rookie. Lesss than one season in the league.
DP: Drafted Player. A player drafted by an LHL team, who can play for an RSL team while his LHL team retains his rights.
At the beginning of the off-season, all LHL teams do a draft, number of rounds TBD, but I recommend only 1.
Every player who did not finish the previous season in the LHL (free agents, any RSL player) is eligible for the draft. maybe not brand new players to prevent guys from making new accounts to stack their team.
Each team drafts their players, and they are given a contract of DP and a salary TBD.
These DP's can play in either the LHL or be sent down to the RSL. They can't be claimed on waivers by another LHL team when being sent down. Unless traded, they remain property of the LHL team that drafted them. When they get sent down to the RSL, they are put on the waiver wire for RSL teams.
At any time, the LHL team can recall their DP's from the RSL. The RSL team can't really cry about it, because they knew he was never really theirs to begin with, it was more like a rental. That's a risk the RSL GM takes when he picked up a DP.
After the draft, the LHL teams do bidding, but they are only able to bid on guys with a Veteran contract.
Why? It creates a bit of prestige to be a member of an LHL roster. It also prevents guys from recreating accounts mid-season, because they know they'll never be a part of the LHL. This is also extremely important to give some stability to RSL GM's, I'll explain that in a minute.
DP's don't count towards an LHL team's roster limit. For the pre-season, they're able to carry over the limit, as long as they sort out their send-downs by the end of pre-season (which leads in to staggering the RSL pre-season by 1 week)
So pre-season, my roster might look like this:
One of the deepest aspects is that only V's and DP's can be part of an LHL roster, and from this original roster of 8 (or however many) you're expected to make it to the end of the season. You can trade, you can send your DP down and call him up later, and you can rent an RSL player (any contract but DP) to a limit or 4 (or however many) games.
So you've got what you've got, and if you lose guys you have to roll with it. They could always make a 2-for-1 trade (either within the LHL to a team with depth or maybe a great DP waiting in the RSL), or pick up free agents if they're really desperate. With the 4 game limits on RSL players too, it creates more than enough man-games to fill occasional empty roster spots.
How do those roster restrictions help the LHL?
For one, it makes it hella hard, and that's fun. There's more entertainment to be had behind the scenes than on the ice, by far. Roster management is huge, and it really makes for more interesting trades when the stakes are raised. Drafting for stability/reliability of a player is often more important than raw talent.
How do those roster restrictions help the RSL?
So next comes the RSL bidding. All undrafted Veterans, Rookies, (and maybe DP's) are up for bidding.
Any player won in bidding by an RSL team is property of that RSL team. They can be traded to an LHL team if they're a Veteran, or loaned to an LHL team temporarily (up to 4 games or whatever) but they can't just be snatched by an LHL team.
This gives the RSL a ton of control over their rosters, without having the fear of losing their best players without compensation late in the season when the LHL loses a guy.