How about this suggestion? - relegation system+no draft lottery

[Dicky113]

Would never work, EVER! Many of the teams in the AHL are in extremely small markets, that both can't sustain an NHL team, and don't even have NHL size arenas. Also, how on earth would the salary structure work, when you are paying millions of dollars in the NHL and much much less in the AHL. relegation works in Europe but most of those leagues, the salaries don't go as high as the NHL.

Also, free agents would never sign in the small market cities that comprise the AHL. Small market NHL teams, have a hard enough time attracting the top free agents as is. All this would ensure is that anytime the AHL team(s) came up to the NHL, they would get completely and utterly demolished and demoted the following year, and the NHL team that got demoted the year before, would tear apart the AHL and come back up the very next year. The talent level between the two leagues is immense!

Your actually describing the EPL system pretty well.

 

[HanSolo]

Even if it could work (it wouldn't) any AHL team that got promoted would immediately get relegated again and any team that got related would be right back up the next year. All this would do is punish the last place teams and their fans.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Between Vegas and Seattle, the NHL raked in over a billion dollars in expansion fees that assuredly had a league-wide inflationary impact on franchise valuations for future sales.

There is zero chance of a relegatory system being implemented with those kinds of money being tossed about.

Not to mention that it would necessitate a complete restructuring of the hockey scene in North America to create a meaningful pyramid where the AHL isn't a feeder league anymore.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

You would basically have to scrap the salary cap and any revenue sharing. To have true Pro/Rel system it would need to be a completely open market. Obviously will never happen for those reasons.

 

[BlueBaron]

Obviously the AHL Calder Cup champion gets promoted to the NHL
- that team is free (without restrictions) to sign free-agent players+trade players
(AHL contract players)

So the Leafs could have 2 teams in the NHL in the same market....did you think this through? Promoting farm teams is beyond moronic.

 

[KCbus]

God. I've been spending more time on HF because I was trying to get away from the promotion/relegation threads on BigSoccer. Now this.

 

[SotasicA]

2 worst teams from both Conference's play best of 5 play-out series
-2nd worst East team play against worst West team, 2nd worst West team play against worst East team.

The winners play against each other for the 1st&2nd overall picks in a best of 5 series
- winner gets 1st overall, loser gets 2nd overall pick

The losers play against each for the league position and for the 3rd overall pick in a best of 5 series
- winner gets 3rd overall pick, loser gets relegated to the AHL

The other first round draft picks is given to teams by their league position in the regular season
- the 5th worst gets the 4th pick and so on

In the 2nd round (and the rest of the rounds) regular season positions dictate the draft order
after teams who played in the play-outs teams
- winner of the relegation series, winner and loser of the 1st overall draft pick series

Well, that's just stupid. What if the Montreal Canadiens or the New York Rangers or the Toronto Maple Leafs are the loser? They won't play in the NHL?! LOL

You'd have the league quickly "expand" to get them back.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Just f*** off with this relegation bullshit, this isn't Europe, we don't care about your stupid ideas.

 

[snipes]

Or we could not copy European style leagues and just do things the North American way.

 

[Just Linda]

Or NHL could just buy the KHL and SHL and go full Euro expansion, 2 30 team conferences that meet to play in the finals (with one trip thrown in per team per year for marketing). Switch the draft format to make it so players can only be drafted by one conference or the other (etc etc).