Year 2 of keeper league - quick question!

[Zorro]

So we will be entering Year 2 of our keeper league and we will be allowed to keep 6 players: 3 forwards, 2 defenseman and 1 goalie.

A couple questions:

Once Yahoo opens up for the season, do you guys allow trades before the draft and before keepers are selected?

Or do you wait until all GMs have their keepers before allowing trades?

Or do you not allow trades to happen until after the draft is completed?

Thanks!

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[ChrisWinsor]

I am in a similar situation. Year 2, 6 keepers, 13 poolies.

I am allowing trades until the deadline for keepers. At which point there will be as hort freeze. Then having an expansion draft with 2 new guys. They will draft up to their 6 from the remaining players.

After the new guys have their 6 keepers, trades will once again be allowed to happen.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Starting our 8th year of a keeper league (8 players, no position restrictions). We allow trades before the keeper deadline as I have found it is a great way for weaker teams to shore up their veteran player depth. Each season numerous top teams have traded away keepers or borderline keepers in exchange for draft picks so they can fit the talent they want under the 8 player limit, and the weaker team gains players worthy of keeping. Overall, it makes September interesting for our league. The last few days before the keeper deadline is comparable in action to the days before the trade deadline.

 

[Zorro]

Thank you for the response, much appreciated!

I am guessing that during that period just before the keeper deadline where trades are allowed, picking up FAs is not allowed correct?

Thanks again!

 

[Frank the Tank]

Thank you for the response, much appreciated!

I am guessing that during that period just before the keeper deadline where trades are allowed, picking up FAs is not allowed correct?

Thanks again!

Yes, no FA additions before the keeper deadline and draft. Also, we have a rule that 7 of your 8 keepers must have been drafted by you or another manager the previous year (e.g., drafted in October 2014 for the September 2015 keeper deadline) and these players have never placed on waivers over the previous season. This ensures that every team can benefit once from shrewdly grabbing a player that emerged unexpectedly during the previous season, while at the same time ensuring that good talent is available during the re-draft of non-keeper players.

 

[Zorro]

Awesome! Thank you very much Frank! These are really good rules.

 

[Rob Brown]

Starting our 8th year of a keeper league (8 players, no position restrictions). We allow trades before the keeper deadline as I have found it is a great way for weaker teams to shore up their veteran player depth. Each season numerous top teams have traded away keepers or borderline keepers in exchange for draft picks so they can fit the talent they want under the 8 player limit, and the weaker team gains players worthy of keeping. Overall, it makes September interesting for our league. The last few days before the keeper deadline is comparable in action to the days before the trade deadline.

We do this in my keeper league too (heading into the third year, 14 teams). I allow trades over the summer and then manually change the rosters once Yahoo opens up. The day we open trades is normally super exciting with lots of big moves - stronger teams trading players they have no room to keep to weaker teams for draft picks, as well as teams trading core players for other core players to get the guys they want!

 

[Paranoid Android]

Starting our 8th year of a keeper league (8 players, no position restrictions). We allow trades before the keeper deadline as I have found it is a great way for weaker teams to shore up their veteran player depth. Each season numerous top teams have traded away keepers or borderline keepers in exchange for draft picks so they can fit the talent they want under the 8 player limit, and the weaker team gains players worthy of keeping. Overall, it makes September interesting for our league. The last few days before the keeper deadline is comparable in action to the days before the trade deadline.

It's funny, we did away with pre draft trading for this exact reason (Keep 4 league). Stacked teams were able to trade off their non keepers for picks which kept them stacked for next season. Seemed unfair that they could perpetually have a stacked team, rather than each year starting fresh.

 

[Frank the Tank]

It's funny, we did away with pre draft trading for this exact reason (Keep 4 league). Stacked teams were able to trade off their non keepers for picks which kept them stacked for next season. Seemed unfair that they could perpetually have a stacked team, rather than each year starting fresh.

It depends on two primary factors (from my experience):

• The more keeper players allowed for each team often yields increased disparity in the quality of keepers as one moves down the roster comparing a stronger and weaker team (e.g., comparing the 1st, 4th, or 8th best player on each team). In this situation, it is worth the weaker team trading a reasonable draft pick to acquire a stronger team's 9th or 10th best players, if that player represents the 4th or 5th best option on your own team.
• Over the seasons managers have learned that the market for managers trying to trade away borderline keeper players is saturated with talent so the days of 1st round picks being traded are rare. For example, it took a trade of Hedman AND Bishop to acquire a late 1st round pick last season. Most mid-range talent (e.g., Burns or Kunitz) is traded for 3rd to 7th round picks now, and at that point in the re-draft one is drafting inferior or less predictable players.

As usual, there are pros and cons to every rule used by a fantasy league. As commissioner, one has to consider the impact each rule could have and also learn from mistakes to iterate towards the league one wants to provide.