Locked Teams, Free Keepers Rule Changes

[C.J]

Thinking about these issues this morning I asked myself "why do we even have free keepers"?

Free keepers essentially takes players away from the draft as each team probably has 2-3 free keepers on top of their 4 farm players.

So really most teams are protecting 15-16 players under the current system (+4 Farm). This makes no sense as 13 keepers is plenty....

Teams have also taken advantage of free keepers as their season ends by dropping players they will not keep and pick up a few free keepers.

I am thinking that the free keepers really just hurts the weaker teams to some degree as they are drafting from a weaker draft pool.

Why not kill 2 birds with one stone here......and we can do the following in both leagues:

- increase the farm to 5

- eliminate the free keepers

- keep all rosters open all year, including playoffs

I think this not only solves some of our current problems, but also puts more players back into the waiver draft for a better selection.

** this also solves the issue that Steve (MTL) brought up regarding players signed by NHL clubs (Mats Zuccarello Aasen) because now these players will be available to everyone.

[David]

why was there even free keepers to begin with? it never made sense...lol. 13 keepers should be 13 keepers period in my opinion so this is a great idea.

get er done!

[Chris]

I'm OK with this as well.

To add to the mix, would anyone support a restriction of 1 goalie on the farm?

At this point only one team has 2 goalies on the farm, so we could easily give them an exemption until it sorts itself out.

I just think the goalie position is important and would hate to see the extra farm position chewed up by stock piling goalie prospects.

It may be a non-issue, but better to give it some thought now, before it becomes an issue.

[C.J]

Originally Posted by David

why was there even free keepers to begin with? it never made sense...lol. 13 keepers should be 13 keepers period in my opinion so this is a great idea.

get er done!

We took the rules from some leagues that have used them before, but knew that we might need to tweek them a little over time like in cases like these.

Originally Posted by Chris

I'm OK with this as well.

To add to the mix, would anyone support a restriction of 1 goalie on the farm?

At this point only one team has 2 goalies on the farm, so we could easily give them an exemption until it sorts itself out.

I just think the goalie position is important and would hate to see the extra farm position chewed up by stock piling goalie prospects.

It may be a non-issue, but better to give it some thought now, before it becomes an issue.

Restricting goalies on the farm would not be something we could change simply because its kinda hard to tell a team who is about to pick in a darft that has a few good goalies available that he cant pick any of them because he already has one on his farm.

Like the NHL all teams have the ability to draft as they wish, that is the beauty of a fantasy league.

If one gm feels that goalies are a high priority then he can draft a few of them, while other gms might feel they are not as big of a deal and feel they can always grab a goalie at the waiver draft.

Dont forget theough, by eliminating free keepers, it will force guys to better plan how to use their 5 farm spots and you will see teams even out their farm more

[Martin]

Originally Posted by C.J

Why not kill 2 birds with one stone here......and we can do the following in both leagues:

- increase the farm to 5

- eliminate the free keepers

- keep all rosters open all year, including playoffs

I think this not only solves some of our current problems, but also puts more players back into the waiver draft for a better selection.

I agree with this ... but what you mean by "both leagues"?

[C.J]

Originally Posted by Martin

I agree with this ... but what you mean by "both leagues"?

Steve and I run 2 leagues and keeps the rules the same for both, that was a cut and paste from an email to him.

The other league has had the same issues brought up so that is what prompted us to resolve them asap.

[C.J]

These rules will take effect immediately... All teams will be unlocked and can do business as usual (add/drops etc).

- There will be no more "free keepers"

- increase the farm team to 5 immediately.

- Roster protection will now be a "firm" 13.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by C.J

These rules will take effect immediately... All teams will be unlocked and can do business as usual (add/drops etc).

- There will be no more "free keepers"

- increase the farm team to 5 immediately.

- Roster protection will now be a "firm" 13.

Just to clarify...these "free keepers" you are talking about are the players that have played less than 100 games in the NHL and 50 games for goalies? So for example Jamie Benn would have to be included in my 13 players or put him back on the farm at the end of the season?

[C.J]

Yes either he goes to one of your 5 farm spots or you need to classify him as a keeper

[Steve W]

I like the new rules as you have proposed them, even though it means I have to re-think my keepers big time as we no longer have the free keepers.

I must say I really like the way you run this league CJ (Steve too in HFHL!) as you are always open to suggestions, you do listen to our concerns and you always seem to come up with just the right answer.

[John C]

I’m in favour of the rule change in general. I believe that it addresses the issue of a GM potentially abusing the farm eligibility rule. Is the decision on the number of farm spots final or is it still up for discussion?

J

[C.J]

Originally Posted by John C

I’m in favour of the rule change in general. I believe that it addresses the issue of a GM potentially abusing the farm eligibility rule. Is the decision on the number of farm spots final or is it still up for discussion?

J

The total farm spots is final, the rules are effective now....we had to get something done asap.

We had to add at least 1 farm spot if we were going to remove "free keepers" in order to be fair. Gms had planned their teams based on some free keepers and to remove al lfre keepers outright would not be fair.

Going any higher than 1 more farm spot (5 total) would just allow team to store more players and that keeps players from the draft.

I find that when topics like this are open for discussion they tend to get replies from each gm that is best for their team. We need to make the decision that is best for the league to ensure it is fair and keeps the league around for years.