League Rules (2017-18)

[Montreal Canadiens (Tyler)]

UNION OF DELETED MANAGERS FANTASY LEAGUE

League Overview
Commissioner: Tyler (Montreal Canadiens)
16 Team League
Head to Head Category Scoring
8 Teams make the playoffs (conference winners get first two seeds)
2 Conferences (no divisions)
$5 Fantrax Fee Per Team
www.fantrax.com/fantasy/home.go?leagueId=vmjum6mhiaklukg0
udmfhl.proboards.com/

Terms Glossary

• Prospect: any player who has played below the NHL career games played limit of 200 for skaters, or 100 games started for goalies.
• Active (NHL) Roster: the 25 slots available on your team's roster (4 C, 4 LW, 4 RW, 6 D, 2 G, 5 Bench). These are the only roster slots that count against the cap. They must all be filled by healthy players who are currently playing in the NHL.
• Minor Team/Roster: 50 man roster separate from the active roster. Only prospects are eligible to be placed on this roster. (less than 200 NHL GP for skaters, 100 NHL GS for goalies)

NHL Rosters
25 players + unlimited injured reserve

4 LW
4 RW
4 C
6 D
2 G
5 Bench
Unlimited IR Spots

NHL roster is composed of 25 players plus unlimited IR spots.

Your team must have 25 healthy players on it at all times, failure to do so will result in the following cap penalties: $1 million per unused slot penalty for the regular season but if you take an illegal team into the playoffs the penalty will increase to 5% off the cap per unused slot. The number of years this penalty will be in effect for will be 1 year per each matchup an illegal roster is used for. So for example: a team only has 22 players on their roster for two matchup periods (3 unused slots) then the penalty will be either $3 million or 15% off the cap for the next two seasons depending on whether the violation occurs during the regular season or the playoffs.

We do realise that mistakes happen occasionally so when I notice (or am notified) of cap circumvention I will contact the owner and they will have 24 hours to correct it. We will use a 1 strike system so on an owners second offence and any offence afterwards the penalty will be enacted immediately. These strikes will renew every season.

So to summarize:
Penalty of $1 million per unused slot if violation occurs during the regular season. 
Penalty of 5% of the cap if the violation occurs during the playofs.
Number of years penalty is in effect is 1 year per matchup the violation is active for.
1 strike allowed in a given season. Any further violations will have the penalty enacted immediately.


Minor Team Roster

Size: 50 players

We will have a minor league team which consists of players who have played under a certain number of games in the NHL (200 games played for skaters, 100 games started for goalies)

Total Players in an Organization: 75 Players plus unlimited IR spots.


Injured Reserve

Players on injured reserve must be moved back to their NHL teams immediately upon their return. If this pushes you over the 75 person active rosters you must waive a player from your NHL or Minor League team. If a player that is in an IR slot becomes healthy the team will have a 48 hour grace period to move the player from the IR into a legal spot. If a healthy player is left on the IR past the 48 hour grace period then that roster will be illegal.


Scoring

We will use a head to head category system where each win of each category results in a win for the teams overall record. Each fantasy week there will be a total of 13 wins split by the two teams competing against each other in each matchup.

Forwards/Defensemen
1. Goals
2. Assists
3. Hits
4. Plus/Minus
5. Penalty Minutes
6. Special Teams Points
7. Blocked Shots
8. Shots on Goal
9. Faceoff Wins

Goaltenders
10. Gpts (Wins plus Shutouts*2)
11. Goals Against Average
12. Saves
13. Save Percentage

Yearly Breakdown

Each UDMFHL season will be broken into four sections, as outlined below.

1. Offseason: This period is the official start of the new season and it will begin as soon as the assessment period is done (no later than May 1st). Any changes made during the assessment period are put into effect ss soon as the Commissioner announces that the Offseason has begun. At this time teams may begin completing trades on Fantrax. The Offseason also includes the UDMFHL Entry Draft which begins at midnight (12:00AM EST) the day after the actual NHL draft. 
2. Regular Season: The regular season is broken up into weekly matchups as evenly spread as possible between all the teams. This is where the bulk of your time will be spent. Up until the trade deadline all trades and legal add/drops are allowed. Due to unusual, midweek, start dates to NHL seasons the first week and a half of the season is merged into one matchup. It will begin on day one of the NHL season.
3. Playoffs: 8 teams make the playoffs, based upon their regular season performance. There are three rounds in the playoffs with the first two rounds being one week matchups and the final, third round being a two week matchup. The top two seeds in each conference will get the top seeds in the playoff and the remaining teams are decided based on regular season record. Whoever wins the playoff bracket is the new UDMFHL League Champion!
4. Assessment Period: This period starts immediately after the playoffs end and will go until April 30th at the latest. During this period all the GM's will spend several weeks assessing the current league rules and making suggestions on amendments to improve the league. These rule change proposals will be voted upon in polls set up on the boards. Once the results of the polls have been resolved the Commissioner will update the league rules to reflect the changes made. The assessment period ends once the new rules have been updated on the boards and the Commissioner has declared publicly to the league that it is over. This will be the official end of the season with the start of the Offseason being the beginning of the next season.
   
   

Salary Cap and Contracts

$98,000,000

We will have a cap ceiling of $25 million over the NHL cap and a cap basement of $5 million under the NHL cap. Every GM is expected to have their roster within the limits any time during the season. Failure to do so will result in cap penalties and, if it becomes continuous, removal of GM. The salary cap only applies to the 25 man active roster. Players in the minors and on IR do not count against the cap. This cap will be enforced throughout the season and playoffs with periodic checks from the mods. There will be penalties for any infractions by a GM if they are over or under the cap. Penalties can vary with the number of times an infraction has occurred; from reducing the salary cap of the team, to loss of draft picks, to the removal of the GM from the league. No matter at what time in the NHL season, the GM will incur a player's full cap hit. There is no pro-rating for salaries. If a player in NHL gets a $5M raise, he gets it here. If a player signs for less, you get that benefit. We are using cap hits, not yearly salary. During the off-season teams will be permitted to exceed the cap but will need to be cap compliant by the start of the NHL season.

Claiming a player on Fantrax, either as a free agent or waiver pickup means you are agreeing to their real life contract. If their contract has five years left on it then you must hold them for the five remaining years of that deal unless you buy them out or trade them. Just like in the real NHL a contract is binding once you 'sign' it (add the player). Prospects, however, can be dropped without needing to be bought out regardless of their real life contract. Once a prospect has crossed the games played threshold (200 for skaters, 100 for goalies) they are no longer counted as a prospect if they are brought up to the active (NHL) roster and so must be bought out to be dropped.

Players who receive an extension or sign a new contract may be cut without penalty before the start of the season in which they begin their new cap hit. For instance: if a player signs an extension in the middle of a season that does not take effect until the beginning of the next season you may retain the player for the rest of the current season under his current cap hit and then decide whether to cut him or keep him before the start of season in which the new cap hit is set to begin. If you choose not to cut the player before game one of the season in which their cap hit changes you must keep them until the extension/new deal is completed or face a buyout penalty when you drop them.

If a player is sent down to the minor leagues in real life they must be sent down to the minors on Fantrax (violates our anti-tanking rules) even if they have passed the 200/100 NHL games played threshold and no longer count as a "prospect". Any player sent down in this way may remain in the minors on Fantrax until the end of the season. They do not need to be called up even if the player is called back up to the NHL in real life. However these players will still incur the normal buyout penalty if they are dropped since they are over the 200/100 NHL games played threshold.

If a player retires before their contract expires then the team who owns them in the UDMFHL may drop them without facing a buyout penalty. If the player has played enough games to to no longer be eligible for the minors then that player MUST be dropped. If they are eligible for the minors then they may be kept there.


Game and Add/Drop Limits

Each week all teams have a minimum of how many goalies that can dress each week to prevent tanking, which is 3. Each GM can make up to 4 adds per week (this does not include IR- since the amount of IR spots is unlimited, the amount of adds per week, if including moving a player to the IR, is unlimited). Basically, if you are not moving a player on your NHL roster to the IR, you can make a maximum of 4 adds per week. “Prospect” adds count towards the 4 adds a week.


Tie Breaker

In the case of a playoff tie, the previous week's stats will be added to each GMs stats to determine the winner. Then it will be regular season Head to Head record. Then most wins in the regular season.

Eligible Players

Players who are unsigned, injured or playing in the AHL/Major Junior/Europe cannot hold a spot on your NHL roster. That is considered cap circumvention/tanking and will be penalized with cap deductions/loss of draft positions/loss of picks/removal from the league. GMs have 48 hours from when the player is demoted to replace him.

Fines

Fines will be determined by the Moderator (Montreal Canadiens). Fines can be determinants on your salary cap situation (ex. $2 million is taken away from your salary cap for the next two seasons), draft picks taken away, or a harsher measure that will be determined if deemed necessary. Fines can be easily avoided: play honorably and check in at least once a day.

Player Acquisitions/Movements

Each team will have a maximum of 75 players on their total roster. These rosters can be filled by drafting or by adding or dropping players. If you want a player who isn't owned by another team in this league simply add them on Fantrax and that player is yours. During the season there will be a limit of three (3) adds per matchup period but in the offseason only 1 player may be claimed per 12 hour period per team. There is no limit on the number of drops a team may make in a week.
            
To clarify what exactly is a UFA: Any player that an NHL team does not have the rights to and is past the age of entry draft eligibility (playing in Europe, played ELC then left NHL, etc) are not eligible for our league UNTIL they are signed by an NHL team. Note this means ONLY NHL contracts: AHL contracts and amateur or professional tryouts do not count. After they sign an NHL contract then they can be claimed/signed through a 48 hr waiver process. If a team wishes to add a UFA they must contact the commissioner and state the player they wish to add. The commissioner will put that player onto the waiver wire where the team may then make a claim. After the waiver period has ended whomever wins the claim gets the player, even if they were not the original claimant.

If a player has been signed by an NHL team for more than the 48 hour waiver period then they may be added without needing to go through the waiver process. 

If the above acquisition rules are violated then the offending team will suffer a $500,000 cap penalty after their second offence. Waiver claims are exempt from this penalty. So to clarify: each team is allowed 1 illegal add a season before penalties begin to be enacted. It is the responsibility of the team owners to verify this information before adding a player. Misreading a news article or getting a date wrong is not grounds to avoid penalty.

Waivers and Buyouts

At anytime during the pre-season, regular season and playoffs a team may put a player on waivers. When a team puts a player on waivers, that player will have a 48 hour period in which other teams may claim him. If that player clears waivers (48hrs) then the player is released out right and a buy-out penalty will be enforced of 25% of the players cap hit, per year remaining on the contract.

“Prospects” ie skaters with less than 200 NHL games played or goalies with less than 100 NHL games started are exempt from waivers and may be dropped freely.

Waiver Priority

Any team can make a claim on a player on waivers during the 48 hour period after a player is waived. The player will not be assigned to a new team until the 48 hour period has expired based on waiver priority order. At the start of the season the waiver order is inverse of standings but once you claim a player off waivers, you lose your current waiver position and go to the bottom of the order.

Buy Outs

There will be a penalty of 25% of a player's cap hit to be deducted for each year of their remaining contract. For example if you have a player making 8M for the next 5 years and buy him out, you will have to to retain 2M for those remaining 5 years. If another team claims a player who was waived during the 48 hour waiver period then the original team will not incur the buy-out penalty. If the player passes the 48 hour claims period and is then signed as a free agent, the buy-out penalty will still be enforced.

Any new replacement GM who takes over a team will receive one (1) penalty free drop of a player who would normally incur a buyout penalty upon being dropped. The commissioner must be told when the player is dropped that the new GM will be using the free buyout for that player. If they do not inform the commissioner before the 2 day waiver period ends then the normal buyout penalty will be enforced.



This free buyout will not be cumulative so if a GM takes over a team that was already assigned a Replacement GM buyout it will not receive a second one but simply retain the original, unused, buyout. This buyout must be used within 2 years of the new GM joining the league, starting at the start of the season they joined in.



Example:

Eric takes over the Hartford Whalers in the middle of the 2011-12 season. He is given a penalty free drop to help him establish the team by removing one of the problem contracts left behind by the previous GM without penalty. After a few months Eric decides since he is a punk bitch and can't handle this league he has to quit so we find Nancy to come in and take over his team. Eric never used the free buyout he was given so instead of getting a second free buyout Nancy has to use the one Eric was originally given, as the team already has a Replacement GM buyout assigned to it. Nancy will have to use this Replacement GM buyout by the start of the 2013-14 season or it will be removed from the team if it is unused.


Trading

Every team wants to improve and therefore trading may happen during the drafts, off-season, regular season and before the trading deadline. Any team may trade any combination of players and picks to another team as long as all teams involved do not go over the roster limits (NHL and AHL rosters) after trading is complete.

While in trade negotiations the GM sending the player can retain up to 50 percent of that player's salary for the remaining duration of their contract. A team may not have more than 3 retained players at a time and a player may not be retained more than once. Both GMs involved in the trade must announce to the Commissioner the player whose salary is being retained and the amount (in dollars, not percentage) that is being retained. If salary is retained it must be for the entire term of that player's existing contract (when the salary cap hit changes on a player, such as due to an extension, it is considered a new contract under our rules) and will stay as a penalty on the team that retained. If the player is later bought out by another team the retained salary will still remain as a penalty.

Nothing said in trade talks is binding, all trades must go through the above protocol.

Entry Drafts

At the end of each season there will be a 6 round entry draft which includes that summer’s NHL draftees. The draft will start at midnight (12:00AM EST) the day following the NHL Draft. Each team will have 24 hours from either the start of the draft (if they are first overall) or from when the previous pick was made to make their selection or their pick will be skipped. If your pick is skipped you may make it at any time afterwards but any teams in the draft order after you will be able to make selections as though you did make a pick. The draft order is chosen based on regular season record for non-playoff teams and playoff teams are seeded by their playoff position with the tie-breaker being regular season record (ie Calgary and Toronto are both eliminated in the second round but since Calgary had a better regular season record than Toronto the Maple Leafs would get the better draft position).

If you are going to be away from a computer while your pick is due up, and will not make the 24 hour time limit, please send a list to the commissioner of your top 5 players you wish to pick, so they can pick for you via proxy. To keep up the pace of the draft, it is asked that you message the next GM that’s up on Kik after you pick. The draft will reset each round like the real NHL draft (1234-1234). The draft will not snake.

You must also be aware that you need to have room on your minor league team to place your newly drafted players. You may decline to draft a player if you would rather roster a player you already have on your minor league team instead. For example, some teams may gather several extra picks and by the time Round 6 comes around they may decide to pass on their pick.

To be eligible to be selected in the UDMFHL Entry Draft a player must have been selected by an NHL team in the real life NHL Entry Draft. A player young enough to be eligible for the following year's draft cannot be selected in the UMDFHL Entry Draft if they were not selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Once a player is too old to re-enter the NHL Entry Draft they may be added in UDMFHL as per the Entry Waivers rules.

Draft Lottery

The 8 teams that did not qualify for the playoffs will have their first round draft pick entered into a weighted draft lottery to determine the position in the draft order of those teams' draft picks in that off-season's UDMFHL Entry Draft.

The teams will be entered into the lottery tool on Draftlotto.com using the 'Fib(n+1)' weighting system. The teams will be seeded in the lottery based on regular season standings with the 16th place finisher getting the most lottery balls (34), 15th place team getting the second most lottery balls (21), and so on. The lottery will be ran and recorded by the League Champion or, should they have a pick in the lottery, a volunteer who does not have a lottery pick. The recording of the lottery will be shared to the league group chat on Kik so everyone can see and the results will then be posted on the forums. 

In summary:
16th Place: 34 lottery balls
15th Place: 21 lottery balls
14th Place: 13 lottery balls
13th Place: 8 lottery balls
12th Place: 5 lottery balls
11th Place: 3 lottery balls
10th Place: 2 lottery balls
9th Place: 1 lottery ball

Due to the Great Lottery Crisis of 2016 compensation was awarded to three 2016 picks that should have moved up were there a draft lottery held that year. Compensation was determined to be additional lottery balls in the 2017 UDMFHL Draft Lottery equivalent to the position the pick would have ended up being. 

A ruling made (after CGY traded his compensated pick for Tanner Pearson) determined that compensation was attached to the pick that would have moved in the lottery, not the team that was in  possession of it. If a compensated pick is traded the compensation goes with it. This secondary ruling was announced on the league group chat and resulted in the Tanner Pearson trade being reversed.

In summary this will result in the following in the 2017 UDMFHL Draft Lottery:

 

• 2016 10th Place (owned by NYR) gets 15th place (21) lottery balls added
  
• 2016 12th Place (originally PHI, traded to NYR) gets 14th place (13) lottery balls added
  
• 2016 11th Place (originally CGY, traded to VAN) gets 12th place (5) lottery balls added

So NYR get 34 lottery balls added next year and VAN gets 5.

Participation and Owners/GM's

Every team/GM/Owner must maintain an active roster management system. If you go MIA, don't join discussions, etc, then your team will be forfeited to a new GM/Owner. Be active and try and make this a fun and enjoyable experience for all GM’s. This league is not like others. If you aren’t putting the time in, you will be removed. This league will have all 16 GM’s checking into the league chat at least six days per week (during the season). You don’t have to be on for an hour. Just checking in on other GM’s in the league chat for 5 minutes will do just fine (and answering promptly to trade proposals). Granted, we all have things going on in our lives, so if you have an upcoming vacation or business trip, please let me know. In other words...don't be Ryan "Plug" Nichols.