***Rule Changes for the 2014/2015 HFNHL Season***

[Brock]

Gentleman,

The following rule changes will be put in place effective immediately.

1. During the FA period in the summer, teams will have to offer at least $2 million (so a guaranteed/one way contract) in order to get into the 2nd round of bidding (inside the 80%) for a player...if said player has at least one offer above $2 million.

*e.g. If Player A receives two contract offers. One at $1,999,99 and one at $2,000,000, he will sign the $2,000,000 offer immediately and not go to a second round of bidding.


2. During the summer FA period, RFA offers from another team (an offer sheet) need to be at least 75% of said players NHL contract in order to be accepted on a one or two year deal. In order to be accepted for a long term deal, said offer sheet needs to be at 100% of their NHL deal.


3. During the free agency period, teams are only allowed to offer one year deals to their OWN RFA's. Should there be no other offer, they will sign the one year deal, pending it is within the 75% of their NHL deal (see above). Should no offers come in for the player, the RFA will NOT sign and negotiations will need to happen between the player agents and the HFNHL team, where they can figure out a new deal. If said player does not like the offers, the opportunity for a hold out could present itself.


4. The UFA age will be reduced to 27 years old (as of September 15).

Click to read more...

 

[Brent Burns Beard]

4. The UFA age will be reduced to 27 years old (as of July 1st).

Was this previously discussed amongst the GM's and we should all have known it was coming?

 

[MatthewFlames]

Was this previously discussed amongst the GM's and we should all have known it was coming?

It was actually in the rules for years - when the CBA changed the rules we always said we would grandfather initially by having an extra year of RFA eligibility but that it would eventually match. That's my recollection anyway - and perhaps an admin member can correct me. I don't know for sure if this was discussed amongst GM's more recently.. I don't think so though

 

[Canuck09]

It was actually in the rules for years - when the CBA changed the rules we always said we would grandfather initially by having an extra year of RFA eligibility but that it would eventually match. That's my recollection anyway - and perhaps an admin member can correct me. I don't know for sure if this was discussed amongst GM's more recently.. I don't think so though

It was discussed this offseason and lead to some healthy (or was it heated? ) debate.

I don't have time to go into great detail, but it's a change I support with the understanding that it's a difficult one to make. As I see it, there's no good time to make the change. It wouldn't matter if we gave a day, a month or a years notice, someone is going to be impacted and may not be happy with it. So...like a bandaid...right off!

 

[Brent Burns Beard]

I agree, no matter how much notice is given for a rule change, someone will be impacted.

However, that said and with all due respect to the leadership group, if there was healthy debate, presumably this decision has been known for sometime?

While the off season is pretty quiet, GM's are making plans within the known context of the current rules and if something MAY change, the playing field isn't even ground if some members are aware of a pending or even potential rule change and others aren't.

Am I off base?

edit: I meant to add.
Since Brock and others all have lives outside HFNHL and cant always get the message out, perhaps we should consider a more formal rule change process so that rule changes are noted in a discussion agenda so that the members at large have similar access to the potential of change. Even if they never happen, at least no one can say they didn't know it was under consideration.

 

[Brent Burns Beard]

in regards to the actual change of RFA to UFA, shouldn't we get an extra year because our guys are a year behind starting in our league?

 

[Tom HFNHL Stars]

I am a new GM.

The rule changes make sense to me.
Hats off to the rules committee and to the Commissioner.

 

[Fooladelfia]

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[HFNHL Canadiens]

Great job guys!

I definitely agree with all the rule changes. The UFA age change is totally necessary and was bound to happen eventually. I understand that there isn't a whole lot of notice, but that's alright. It just makes managing your team that much more challenging. The fun is in the challenge.

 

[Wildman]

Gentleman,

The following rule changes will be put in place effective immediately.

1. During the FA period in the summer, teams will have to offer at least $2 million (so a guaranteed/one way contract) in order to get into the 2nd round of bidding (inside the 80%) for a player...if said player has at least one offer above $2 million.

*e.g. If Player A receives two contract offers. One at $1,999,99 and one at $2,000,000, he will sign the $2,000,000 offer immediately and not go to a second round of bidding.


2. During the summer FA period, RFA offers from another team (an offer sheet) need to be at least 75% of said players NHL contract in order to be accepted on a one or two year deal. In order to be accepted for a long term deal, said offer sheet needs to be at 100% of their NHL deal.


3. During the free agency period, teams are only allowed to offer one year deals to their OWN RFA's. Should there be no other offer, they will sign the one year deal, pending it is within the 75% of their NHL deal (see above). Should no offers come in for the player, the RFA will NOT sign and negotiations will need to happen between the player agents and the HFNHL team, where they can figure out a new deal. If said player does not like the offers, the opportunity for a hold out could present itself.


4. The UFA age will be reduced to 27 years old (as of July 1st).

Question, if a RFA player is not signed after free agency period, would other teams be allowed to offer a contract? There are few NHL contract that are just crazy, do you think we can bring arbitration for players who are not offered a Contract during free agency and sitting as unsigned? The team could have option of not accepting the Arbitration decision and could walk away.

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

Question, if a RFA player is not signed after free agency period, would other teams be allowed to offer a contract? There are few NHL contract that are just crazy, do you think we can bring arbitration for players who are not offered a Contract during free agency and sitting as unsigned? The team could have option of not accepting the Arbitration decision and could walk away.

Personally, I think that is where the agent decides on either signing the QO or accepting a below market 2 year deal, presuming the player doesn't give up any UFA years. And yes, this might also mean deviating from the "at least 75% rule" if the QO is way lower. If a RFA is way over paid based on their most recent NHL play, I don't think the team should have to pay that amount or close to it. For a UFA, it basically means you pay their NHL deal or let them become a UFA and bid lower there, but for RFA's, I think there has to be a middle ground where you can re-sign the guy for lower one they pass through the free agency period altogether.

 

[Regal Beagles]

My only complaint is the commish referring to all of us as gentlemen.

 

[MatthewFlames]

My only complaint is the commish referring to all of us as gentlemen.

Veto

 

[Vaive-Alive]

Personally, I think that is where the agent decides on either signing the QO or accepting a below market 2 year deal, presuming the player doesn't give up any UFA years. And yes, this might also mean deviating from the "at least 75% rule" if the QO is way lower. If a RFA is way over paid based on their most recent NHL play, I don't think the team should have to pay that amount or close to it. For a UFA, it basically means you pay their NHL deal or let them become a UFA and bid lower there, but for RFA's, I think there has to be a middle ground where you can re-sign the guy for lower one they pass through the free agency period altogether.

Agree with Nick on this. There has to be flexibility here - the arbitration process by its own nature cannot function properly with a set floor of 75% NHL salary. There will be hold-outs under this rule, and the agents should be able to sign them to the best deal they can get. I think this rule should be reviewed before being applied next season.

 

[Lord Stanley]

Can we get this sticky

 

[MatthewFlames]

What is the cut off date for RFA vs UFA this summer then please?

 

[Fooladelfia]

------------------

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

What is the cut off date for RFA vs UFA this summer then please?

If a player is listed as 27, he will now be a UFA versus a RFA, as announced after free agency this summer.

And yeah, no team got as screwed as my Blues on this rule change, with three guys I had signed to deals with a length that would give me one more kick at the RFA can to sign them long-term, but who are now pending UFA's

 

[Wildman]

so Ladd was 28 when he auto resign before July 1st so he was RFA Under the old rule no?

Ladd was UFA based on my interpretation of the rule for Type III Free agent which I have posted below:

Type III:
Unrestricted Free Agents
Players 29 or older become unrestricted free agents at the expiration of their
contracts. The age applies to a player after the particular season has
completed. For example, although the UFA age is 29, this applies to all players
listed as 28 on the Player Vitals page.

 

[Dempsey]

Is this page accurate for determining which free agent status each pending free agent will be next year?

http://hfnhl.org/2015/HFNHL-FreeAgents.html

 

[Lord Stanley]

Is this page accurate for determining which free agent status each pending free agent will be next year?

http://hfnhl.org/2015/HFNHL-FreeAgents.html

Looks fairly accurate to me. Maybe somebody can confirm yes or no? Also is it possible to get this thread a sticky? at least until FA rolls around.

 

[Wildman]

Looks fairly accurate to me. Maybe somebody can confirm yes or no? Also is it possible to get this thread a sticky? at least until FA rolls around.

The list consist of all the pending RFA and UFA. The list will continue to shrink as contracts/extensions are signed through out the season and before July 1st date.

 

[TorontoGM]

Unrestricted Free Agents
Players 29 or older become unrestricted free agents at the expiration of their contracts. The age applies to a player after the particular season has completed. For example, although the UFA age is 29, this applies to all players listed as 28 on the Player Vitals page as of Sept. 15.

This is how the ufa rule is written in the rule book. Is the only change the age is now 28, and therefore 27 in the player vitals?

Thanks
Abbas

 

[MatthewFlames]

Unrestricted Free Agents
Players 29 or older become unrestricted free agents at the expiration of their contracts. The age applies to a player after the particular season has completed. For example, although the UFA age is 29, this applies to all players listed as 28 on the Player Vitals page as of Sept. 15.

This is how the ufa rule is written in the rule book. Is the only change the age is now 28, and therefore 27 in the player vitals?

Thanks
Abbas

Why don't we just pick a date. So much easier. Born after this date, UFA, born before this date RFA?

 

[Brock]

Unrestricted Free Agents
Players 29 or older become unrestricted free agents at the expiration of their contracts. The age applies to a player after the particular season has completed. For example, although the UFA age is 29, this applies to all players listed as 28 on the Player Vitals page as of Sept. 15.

This is how the ufa rule is written in the rule book. Is the only change the age is now 28, and therefore 27 in the player vitals?

Thanks
Abbas

Yes.

And I'll sticky this.