(The
DHP: 2001 to present)
This is an
ongoing pool. This means that the players on your team now could feasibly be on
your team in the year 2022. Everything possible is being done to ensure that
everyone in this pool is extremely knowledgeable about hockey, and extremely
serious about hockey pools. I don’t want people quitting after three years just
because they’ve done poorly. Suck it up and rebuild. Yes it costs money, but
this isn’t about the money, it’s about fun (and bragging rights).
1. Entry fee is $100 per year (updated
2007). This must be paid on or before draft day in cash. Exceptions need to be
arranged with me beforehand, and some
leeway will be given in extreme circumstances. Failure to comply will result in
your team being auctioned off to the highest bidder. At which point, $100 would
go towards the entry fee, and the remainder will go to the owner selling the
team.
2. Every five years, the owners will
review the entry fee. Only by majority vote, will the fee be increased. (A vote
greater than 50% of the owners)
3. No refunds, obviously.
4.1 Ideally, everyone will be in this
pool for decades, but there will be times when people quit. When this happens,
anyone interested in joining the pool will submit bids to me, sealed in an
envelope, by a deadline. The minimum bid is $200; the first $100 will be the
entry fee, and any access earnings will go to the owner that put the team up
for sale. No current owner can buy a team from another owner.
4.2 Inopportune Time Clause:
An owner who quits the pool, without proper notice and at a time that
is deemed disadvantageous for the fair competition of the pool will forego
their right to a fair auction of their team and will give up any right to
future winnings earned during the current season. The commissioner will put a
fair, but low, valuation of the team in an effort to find a good owner quickly.
Furthermore, as per the trade veto rules below, their two prior deals will be
investigated accordingly. The "Inopportune Time" breach will be
tabled and would need a 75% vote to pass, voting would not include the owner
who quit.
5. One point is given for a goal, and
one point is given for an assist. The team with the most points at the end of
the regular season or playoffs wins. Tiebreaker No.1 is most goals by the 16
members of the pro team (revised April 15th, 2002). Tiebreaker No.2
is best plus/minus rating by the 14 skaters of the pro team. No prizes will be
split unless the unlikely event that all three of the above end in a tie.
6. Every year, prior to the draft,
owners can submit proposals for rule adjustments or additions. A vote of greater
than 65% (currently 10 owners) would pass the proposal. This will be 75% or
100% at the commissioner’s discretion, if the issue is a serious one that
requires more universal acceptance. (Jan. 2021)
The following
is the prize structure based on 15 teams (2016):
15
owners x $100.00: $1500.00
1st
place, regular season $400.00
and the Craiger Cup (trophy)
2nd place,
regular season $200.00
3rd place,
regular season $100.00
4th place,
regular season
$ 75.00
1st place,
playoffs $300.00
and the Dobber Cup (trophy)
2nd place,
playoffs $200.00
3rd place,
playoffs $100.00
4th place,
playoffs $
50.00
Rookie
of the year owner $
25.00 and the Floyd Patterson Trophy
Administration/expenses $ 50.00
1.
The
rookie of the year award goes to the owner with possession of a player who is eligible for the Calder trophy in the
NHL (revised September 30th, 2001) and that player gets the most
points that season.
2.
The
first winner of the regular season will have the trophy named after them (so
named the Craiger Cup after inaugural winner Craig Leis, April 14th,
2002). The first winner of the Rookie of the Year award will have the trophy
named after them (so named the Floyd Patterson Trophy, April 20th,
2003).
3.
Anyone
that fails to return a trophy to me by the end of August is subject to a $20
fine. Exceptions can be made if arrangements are made with me for a later
return date. However, failure to meet the alternate arrangements will result in
a $20 fine. In other words, if clearly no effort is made to get the trophy back
to me, I will assess the fine at my discretion. Effective the summer of 2004.
(September 14, 2003)
The draft
will be held every year at the home of whoever volunteers. This could mean a
trip every September to London, Toronto, etc.
1. Appearance at the draft is mandatory.
There is absolutely no excuse for weddings or ball tournament. Exceptions will
be made a) if you die or b) a funeral or c) a serious accident. If b or c
happen, simply forward your list to me, I will draft your players for you
according to that list. If you are unable to do that, you are free to choose
the number of players equal to the number of draft picks you own, after the
draft is over. The reason I say this is to ensure everyone is serious about the
pool. We all want competition and we won’t get it if someone does not take it
as seriously as the rest.
2. A. The draft will be held on the
final Sunday of September at 1pm. Owners are obligated to appear at this one
event every year. If two owners have something that falls on the same day, they
can notify me a month in advance and I will try to make other arrangements to hold
the draft with perfect attendance. If the draft date cannot be changed, their
lists can be given to another owner. If an owner fails to appear for three
drafts in a six-year span (updated 2007), his membership in this pool will be
reviewed and voted on. A 50% vote would remove this owner from the pool and his
team will be put up for sale.
B.
Clarification of possibly moving the draft date. If one owner cannot make the
last Sunday of September, that owner’s list can be given to another owner to
draft in his place. If two owners cannot make the last Sunday of September, I
will try to move the date one Sunday back (first Sunday of October). In the
interest of fairness, all 15 owners must be agreeable to the new date. Yes,
this makes moving the date extremely difficult. But it would not be fair if an
owner can make the proper draft date but cannot make the proposed draft date.
So all owners have to be agreeable to
the change. It is always in the DHP’s best interest to have full attendance so
the effort to change the date should at least be attempted.
3. Draft order will go in the reverse
order of finish in the regular season. The last place team will have the No.1
overall pick (unless traded). The first-place team will have the No.15 overall
pick (unless traded). There will be four rounds (updated 2020) of drafting
every year.
4. The team that wins the Dobber Cup
will select second last for each round of the draft (updated 2007). The
only exception to this is if the team won the Craiger Cup as well, in which
case their pick will remain last.
5. A five-minute timeout may be called
at any time during the draft by the owner who has possession of the draft pick
at that time for TRADING PURPOSES ONLY.
6.
Players are eligible to
be drafted, only if they are drafted or signed by an NHL team. This means that
no 16-year-old prodigies can be picked.
7. Teams initially have four draft
picks per year, one for each round. However, they can have as many or as few as
they want, depending on what they do with the picks in terms of trading in the
past. Furthermore, an abbreviated fifth round will be added once the regular
season ends, for the five teams that did not make the DHP playoffs. This fifth-round
draft pick is untradeable. (Jan. 2021)
8.
If a team’s roster is
full when they draft a player, one player must be dropped from their roster. That
player is then in the draft pool for anyone to choose. (October, 2012) - In the
event that a player was not dropped and should have been, and this is not
caught until the draft is complete, the team's final pick will be 'voided'. It
will be as if the team did not draft the last player at all. This addendum
stems from the fact that teams did not get a shot at selecting the player who
should have been dropped - it is the owner's responsibility to know his roster.
9.
Not all draft picks
need to be used. If an owner does not have a spot on their roster for another
player, and they cannot trade the pick, they may simply “pass”.
10. (September 2004) In the event that an entire season
is wiped out due to a strike or a lockout, the draft will proceed as usual. The
draft order will be the same as the summer before, and picks that have been
traded will remain traded. Bottom line – a strike/lockout changes nothing with
respect to the draft.
11. (October 14, 2006)In the event that
an owner inadvertently drops an extra player at the draft, when in actuality
they had enough room on their roster to allow for a draft pick without dropping
a player, said owner is allowed to negate his final drop and keep that player.
(October, 2012) If that final player dropped was later selected by another team
in the draft, then the original owner who made the mistake loses the player.
1.
Any
assets may be traded at anytime during the year. Assets are players and draft
picks. Two-for-one trades, three-for-one trades, three-for-two trades, etc. are
all legal.
2.
Each
team has a maximum of three trades (updated 2010) per season. This begins at
11pm on the first Sunday after January 22 and ends at 9pm on the day of the NHL
trade deadline. Owners are not obligated to use all three of their trades.
There is a trade freeze of 12 hours starting at 11pm of the first Sunday after
January 22.
3.
No
trades can be made from 9:01pm on the day of the NHL trade deadline, until
midnight (12am) of April 30 (updated 2007). However, there is UNLIMITED trading
from midnight of April 30, until 11pm on the first Sunday
after January 22 (updated 2010). Any trades made in May or June will
not impact the playoffs, as those rosters are frozen until the Cup is won.
4.
Players
traded during the regular season bring their points with them. For example,
player A has 40 points and is traded for player B and a draft pick, and player
B has 30 points. The team getting player A will receive his 40 points and thus
will move up 10 points in the standings, provided both players were on his pro
team.
5.
“Buddy”
trades will not be accepted. If anyone believes that a trade is far too lopsided, they may lodge a
complaint with me. If that complaint is independently seconded, a vote will
take place. A vote of 75% or greater will be sufficient to nullify the trade. The complaint must be lodged within 48
hours of the trade. Owners win deals and lose deals - it happens. Sometimes
owners lose deals badly. This rule is in place only for extreme situations. It
is to prevent two friends from stacking one of the teams and splitting the
prize money. It is also to prevent an owner who is planning on quitting the
pool at season’s end from helping someone out by giving them a “deal”.
6.
If
an owner quits the pool at the end of the season, their last two trades will be
investigated, even though the 48-hour deadline is long over. By a 75% percent
vote, if either of the trades are deemed unfair, or that the players involved
were “unloaded” at a price too cheap, the team or teams involved will be
penalized by losing some, or all of their draft picks, which will go to the new
owner of the team that quit. This will be done by a vote of 50%. If a penalized
team does not have any draft picks that year; picks for the following year will
be used.
7.
If
is trade is made involving an injured or traded (in the NHL) player, and the
owner receiving said player was not aware of it, too bad. This is a serious
pool, and it is the responsibility of the owner to know everything about the
trade that they are making. In the event that one owner misleads another owner
– for example they claim that a player is healthy when, in fact, they are not –
then the victimized owner must appeal within 24 hours of the trade. This is a
very rare circumstance, and is only successful if the owner can convince me
that he was intentionally misled. In which case, compensation that is agreed
upon by both owners will be awarded. If neither owner can agree, all the owners
in the pool will vote on whether to nullify the deal by a 75% vote.
8.
(January,
2006) A three-way deal counts as one trade for each of the three owners. Each
owner must give and receive at least one asset for this to be deemed a
three-way deal. Furthermore, each owner must have dealings with the other two
owners in some fashion.
9.
(September,
2011) No player can be traded with the intent of being traded back later.
Players traded away cannot be traded back to the original team prior to January
1 following the date of the initial transaction (updated 2018).
10. (September, 2011) No deals that are
submitted after 8:30pm on deadline day will be announced until 9:10pm, to free
up the commissioner to do his own deals. If you have a trade to submit after
8:30 you may as well hold onto it until 8:55.
Addendum: Trading - Rules of Integrity
11. Agreeing to a trade that will be
made in the future is prohibited. Specific names agreed upon in a deal that
will be done in a different trade window will be seen as a form of collusion
and will be punishable by an escalating fine of $20 per owner involved.
The term "trade window" refers to a window from May 1 through
August 31, September 1 through to the start of the draft, the start of the
draft through the first Sunday after January 22, and the first Monday after
January 22 through to the annual trade deadline. Each of those four windows
involves a new phase of roster or trade regulations, and as such pre-arranging
a deal involving specific assets in a future trade window is prohibited. The
escalating fines will start at $20 and increase by $20 each additional
repeat offense. A 75% vote is needed (minus the two owners involved).
11.1 For the sake of clarity, this rule also applies to tradable
Unrestricted Free Agent contracts. These assets do not actually belong to a
team until May 1st of that year so agreeing to them in a future
trade is prohibited.
12. If a deal that infringes on the
above Rule 11 impacts a current deal directly, the current deal will be
revoked. A 75% vote is needed. (minus the two owners involved)
13. A promise of an asset outside the
confines of this pool to close a deal is prohibited. This includes anything
from buying a beer, to buying a car, to agreeing to a favor in another aspect
of life. Deal will be revoked and $20 fine imposed. A 75% vote is needed (minus
the two owners involved).
14. *IMPORTANT: Return all phone calls
and all emails within 48
hours. Even
for offers that seem stupid, at least give owners the courtesy of a two-minute
phone call, text or email. Nobody likes waiting for answers, and it may affect
other deals they are considering which are time sensitive. If the offer
requires further thought, email the person with a brief note: “I’ll think about
this for the next ## days and get back to you”. If hitting “reply” and
typing that sentence is too time consuming, then join a Toronto Star pool where
you just have to check boxes once per year.
15. A final answer can be postponed for
up to five days. Including
the 48-hour window in which you responded: “let me think about this for the
next couple of days”. By the sixth day, the owner who proposed the offer may
have forgotten the offer. It is not fair of you to respond a week or two later
and force them to dig up the offer that they made (perhaps the offer was made
on a platform that isn’t handy for that person at the moment of receiving the
late response). Respect your fellow owners.
15a. An owner who is more than five days late giving a final
response must be voted as ‘Worst GM of the Year’ on draft day by the
other owner who was offended. If the offended owner was slighted at different
times by two different owners, then he will have to choose one at the annual
vote.
16. A final response has not been given
unless the words “yes” or “no” appear somewhere in your email. If you write
“I’m not sure” or “let me look at it, but I don’t think so” – you are not
giving a firm answer. Granted, things look bleak, but the other party is still
holding onto hope that after you ‘look at it’ you will come around. The clock
is ticking on the five days (Point 15) and if you haven’t given a firm answer
by these rules within five days then you will be subject to sanctions (Point 15a)
17. Being unavailable on a key day in this pool will result in an automatic
fine of $10. If you
truly can’t be reached on that key day (and this day and age with smart phones
that’s almost impossible), you can give the pool advanced notice and give them
a time window when they can reach you. For example, maybe you are available the
day prior to the key date. Let the other GM’s know this.
Key dates: The last Sunday after
January 21 (end of free trading)
Trade
Deadline Day
August 31
(day the final cuts need to be in, to pare down rosters)
Expansion
draft protection deadline day
1.
Rosters
consist of 12 pro team forwards, two pro team goaltenders, four pro team
defensemen and 16 farm team players (amended to 16 beginning in 2020). The
12 forwards with the highest point total will be counted for your final pro
roster, as well as your top two goaltenders and your top four defensemen. Draft
position is based on the total points of your pro team. Points are taken from
the start of the year. Points carry over in a trade along with the player.
2.
Elastic
Rosters - Rosters must be 34 players or fewer on September 1 until the
conclusion of the draft later in the month. After the draft, the rosters become
elastic, allowing for rosters as large as 38 players (after the
draft) or as small as 30 players (at any time). If a player is added via a
two-for-one trade or via unrestricted free agency, the roster can expand to
accommodate accordingly (up to four extra players, or a roster of 38). However,
by August 31st (at midnight) the rosters must slip back to 34 players. Failure
to submit your waived players that are required to bring your roster back down
to 34 by the required time will result in your lowest points player being
automatically waived. In the event that there is a tie for the lowest points,
it will be taken alphabetically by last name.
3.
Pro
teams must be full at all times during the regular season and playoffs.
3a – If a
slot is unfilled during the offseason, this is okay.
3b – If a slot is unfilled during
the regular season, the following penalty will be handed out: Teams in the Top
10 will lose one point each day. Teams outside of the Top 10 will gain one
point each day.
4.
Farm
teams may consist of 12 to 20 players between the end of the draft and August
31 of the following year; and farm teams are limited to 12 to 16 players
between September 1 and the end of the draft.
5.
If
a move puts your roster over the 34-player limit (between September 1 and the
draft) or over the 38-player limit (the rest of the year), then you must drop a
player into free agency immediately.
6.
If
a move puts your roster under the 30-player limit, then the move is illegal and
will be annulled. If the illegal move isn’t caught until a couple of weeks
after the fact, then the move will still be annulled – but also any subsequent
moves from the offending owner will be annulled up until that point.
Unrestricted
Free Agency
1. Each team is allowed one free agent signing
during the season for players 24 years of age and older. Example - Andy
McDonald in 2005-06. Perhaps Smoke Squad sees something in him back in November
and decides to use his 'free agent' signing. He scoops McDonald up. Or perhaps
Smoke Squad wishes to save his 'free agent' signing for a later date, but lo
and behold Cap'n Jimmy scoops up McDonald in January. Too bad for Smoke Squad:
it is first come, first serve. Strategies that come into play - 'when' do you
use your free agent signing? Do you need to use one at all? It's another
element that encourages GM's to keep an eye out for any 24, 25, 26, or even 34
year olds that start to show big promise. Another example - perhaps in January
Team Premium 'signs' Mike Knuble for the purpose of trading him at the deadline
to Whalers for some young promise. The UFA signing can be used any time after
the draft and before the trade deadline.
2.
The
age limit is set to make it more realistic. Youngsters should be chosen in the
entry draft, just like the NHL. Only one free agent signing per year because
you generally don't see NHL teams signing more than that, and it adds more
strategy if your moves are limited.
3.
A
newly-signed player must remain on your team for 30 days (Updated
9/30/2014). This prevents a deadline deal from a top team saying "use your
free agent signing and pick up Knuble, and then trade him to me" if that
top team had already used their free agent signing for the year.
4.
A
UFA contract can be "traded". The following season’s UFA contract is
available to be traded beginning on May 1st of each year and can be
dealt up until the Trade Deadline. However, once signed, the player can't be
traded for 30 days.
5.
If
two teams rush to sign a player on his 24th birthday, the first
email to arrive in my (the commissioner) inbox will get him. If I am the one
interested in signing such a player, in the interest of fair play I will email
myself the FA claim in order to time stamp it – and if that time stamp is after
midnight and yet before another claim, then I get the player and will have
followed the same process as everyone else. A team cannot send an email in
advance of the birthday indicating the future claim. The email must be sent
after midnight on the day of his birthday.
6.
A
team can begin using the UFA contract the minute the draft is order, up until
the trade deadline.
Goaltenders
1.
All
pro teams must have two goalies. Pro teams will consist of 12 forwards, two
goalies and four defensemen. No more than two goalies and no fewer than two
goalies.
2.
A
goalie’s points are calculated as follows: WINS – LOSSES + ½ OT LOSS + 2*SO +
5% of Saves – 25% of Goals Allowed + Assists. Calculations will be done by the
pool manager online program – just know that wins, saves and shutouts are
good…losses and goals against are bad. This system rewards the skill of the
goalie as opposed to the style of the team…a little more than most systems.
3.
A
farm team can have as many goalies as you want. If you want to have 12 pro team
forwards, two pro team goalies, four pro team defensemen and 15 goalies on your
farm – great. If you want zero goalies on your farm – also great. Part of being
a good manager is finding the right balance for this.
4.
Playoffs: If none of your goalies make the playoffs,
you will have an empty roster spot(s). That spot will give you zero points in
the playoffs. This puts a bit of an onus on you to acquire a goalie who will
play in the postseason.
5.
Regular Season: Failure to own at least one
goaltender to put on your pro team will result in a blank space in that spot.
If there is a blank spot on your pro team during the offseason, that is okay. If there is a blank spot during
the regular season, that is not okay. For every day that a team
has a designated pro team roster spot unfilled, they will lose one point from
the end of season totals. Per empty spot. Ten days of two empty spots means you
lose 20 points. If you are not in the Top 9 (updated 2008 to accommodate the
new playoff rule) in the standings at the end of the season, those points will
be added to your totals and not subtracted.
5a. If you are
penalized 20 points in the season (loss or gain, depending on your standings
position), an additional 50-point penalty will be levied. Any attempt to play
this system or find a loophole in this rule to secure a better draft pick or
somehow secure a victory will result in a review by the other owners and a vote
will be taken as to how many more points to add or subtract. The point is –
make sure your pro team has 12 forwards, four defensemen and two goalies.
6.
If
you only have goalies on your team that are either injured, retired, or
prospects and the top goalies add up to a negative point value at the
end of the year, then that point value becomes a zero.
7.
Legitimate
sandbagging is allowed. If you trade a goaltender with points for a blue-chip
prospect and all you have are prospect goalies, it is allowable to take on
their zero points onto your pro team. However, if your top goalie has negative
points – it automatically will become zero.
1.
Rosters
consist of 12 pro team forwards, two pro team goaltenders, four pro team
defensemen and 12 to 20 farm team players. The players with the highest
point total will be counted for your final pro roster, while at the same time
fitting the 12-4-2 roster system (i.e. same as regular season).
2.
The
five teams that did not make the postseason will still have their points
tracked as above. The number of points that they accrue in the postseason will
be removed from their regular season point total, thus helping them sink to
that first overall draft pick. (9/29/2013)
1.
Every
year we will throw an extra $10 into a kitty. Beers will be sold for $2 (half
going to the host and half going to the kitty). Matt Aitchison has volunteered
to handle the kitty every year. With this money, we can put it towards a hockey
trip every six years or so.
2.
Every
draft, we will have a secret ballot in which you vote on the worst owner of the
past year. Choosing “none” is absolutely an option, if you feel all the owners
have been great at responding to emails, etc. If an owner gets six votes, he
will be fined $20 (which goes into the kitty – see No.3).
3.
$10
per person, with the first $100 (USD ~$120-$130 CDN) paying for the Fantrax
Premium. It gives us this draft room (which we may never need again because we
do our drafts live), but also tracks our picks and transactions. The other ~$30
can add to the kitty. I say $10 because the $8-$9 this actually costs would be
a pain to calculate exchange rate and make change, so it’s just rounded up.
OFFICIAL
DOBBERCUP WEBSITE: http://www.nhlforecaster.com for
rules, transaction history, draft pick history and expansion process. Fantrax
for rosters and draft picks.
We have voted to expand to a 15th team in 2016
and we will follow the guidelines that we used for 2002, 2007 and 2010. I have
updated any stale information:
1.
Current
owners can protect ten (10) players on their roster. Any 10 skaters or
goaltenders, not necessarily the top 10 point getters.
2.
Nineteen
(19) players must be left unprotected. If after protecting your 10 players you
have 18 players or fewer unprotected, the highest draft pick in the coming year
will be included to fill that spot. IMPORTANT: If two spots are free, than the
highest draft pick of the following
year will be included to fill that spot, and so on through the years.
3.
Bidding
starts at $100 and can be submitted to me any time after April 30 via email.
Bidding stops one week after the third bid (from three different people) is
received, or on July 31, 2016, whichever occurs first. There is no minimum or
maximum number of bidders needed. If I do not receive a bid by the end of July
31 than no expansion will happen. For the purpose of 2016 we will expand by one
team, giving us 15 in total. Bidders can place second or even third bids if
they wish, as long it is prior to the deadline.
3a. I don’t like to see the bids, so I ask that the bidder just give a
little greeting and then hit ‘enter’ a bunch of times, then typing the bid far
down the email. I won’t scroll down to look. I like to be as surprised as
anyone else.
4.
The
winning expansion team will have an expansion draft by Sunday, August 21 at
8pm. protected lists must be submitted by midnight on August 14. In the event
that a protected list is not submitted by midnight of the deadline via email,
that team's top 10 scorers of the prior season will be protected (not always
desirable for that owner, thus they should make sure they get the list in).
Trading will be frozen from midnight, August 14 until 8pm August 21. At which
point unlimited trading reopens and the expansion team can now be involved in
trades.
5.
One
player from each team's unprotected list is to be selected onto the expansion
team. This gives the new team 14 players to start with.
6.
The
new team will select third overall in the entry draft. The new team will select
first overall in the second round, first overall in the third round, first
overall in the fourth round and first overall in the fifth round (see Point 8)
giving the new team 19 players. The new team will then pick 14 players after
the draft to complete the roster, unless via trade the new team has acquired
draft picks and had already filled the roster to 33 players.
7.
Some
people have voiced concerns over losing quality players with their "11th
best" player going to a new team. Or that some teams can afford to lose
their "11th best" while others cannot. Or that some teams only have
10 quality guys, and some teams only have 11, and this system favors the teams
that already have just 10 quality guys. My argument is this: Everyone loses out
in this expansion draft, but the person that loses the biggest is the new
owner. Getting everyone's 11th best player takes a lot of balls, and agreeing
to an expansion team under these conditions takes a lot of dedication. The
least we can do is grant the new person a decent player from each of our teams
without hurting our core. If any more players are protected, it may prove
difficult to find an interested party to expand.
8.
For
this year, a fifth round will be added to the draft. This fifth-round pick MAY
NOT BE TRADED. It does not even need to be used. Its purpose is to fill the
hole on your roster left by expansion. Everyone has the option of picking in
the fifth round. Rules of the other rounds apply to this one, except for the
fact that this pick cannot be traded.
9.
NEW - Extra protection clause: In the week leading up to the
expansion draft, a team is free to negotiate an “extra protected player” with
the expansion owner. If agreed upon, the team would protect an 11th
player. In exchange, the expansion team can select two (2) players from that
team’s unprotected list. Furthermore, a 12th player can be protected
and in exchange the expansion owner can select four (4) players from that
team’s unprotected list. Both parties need to agree and this clause can only be
invoked for up to two additional protected players. The commissioner needs to
be looped into the agreement in advance of the expansion draft.
10.
The
new team is looking at a young star or two, several 60-point players, five or
six blue-chip prospects, and then about 20 prospects of which half will become
pretty good, the other half will be replaced in the next draft. The Fighting
Hellfish, led by GM Matt Aitchison, is an expansion team that finished third in
his third full season (plus a lockout). The Numpties, led by Chris Holloway,
was a playoff team by his third season. Tank Nation, run by Dan Gracey, took a
somewhat circuitous route but in five years he’s built a strong and competitive
core. It can be done and it has. By these rules.
11.
A
decent team to start will likely finish 12th-15th in the first year which is
how things go for real-life expansion teams. Compete and grow. Intelligent
drafting of blue-chip prospects, while balancing in veterans who will put up
points (and can then be traded for more blue-chip prospects and picks) could
have this team compete for money in its third year, and a title by the fifth
year. The fact that the new person is pretty much throwing their bid money away
for the first three years indicates that they are hardcore and in this pool for
the fun and the challenge. Which is what we want. Expansion benefits us all.
Our prize money grows, the amount of players available thins (which makes
drafting more of a challenge), and most of all we get another solid hockey guy
to talk to and deal with.
Updated
teams can always be found on the DobberCup website: http://www.nhlforecaster.com