Official Changes to Rules for 2016-17

[Montreal Canadiens (Tyler)]

Rule Changes for 2016-17 Season

Minor League Eligbility:
Was: Players with a $2 million or less cap hit
Now: Career NHL games played limit (200 or less for skaters, 100 or less for goalies). The deadline for all minor league players to be required to fall under this rule is the day before the regular season. Penalties for failure will be determined by the commissioner at the time should such an event occur.

IR Enforcement:
Was: Transactions locked if healthy player left on IR
Now: Roster illegal if healthy player left on IR

Forum usage adjustments:
           YES                                                                  NO    
     Cap Penalties                                                  No roster records    
     Entry Drafts                                                    No waiver claims
     League discussion                                        Free agent acquisitions
     Trade records
     Rules (and subsequent amendments)
     Trading Blocks
     GM Contact Info
    

Goalie Categories:
Was: (5 categories) W, SV, GAA, SV%, SHO
Now: (4 categories) GPt (Wins + Shutouts), SV, GAA, SV%

Skater Scoring Changes:
Was: (10 categories) G, A, +/-, SOG, PPP, STP, HIT, BLK, TK, FOW
Now: (9 categories) G, A, +/-, SOG, STP, HIT, BLK, PIM, FOW

Penalty for Unused Roster Slots
Was: Commissioner's Discretion
Now: 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 League Team Size:
Was: 62
Now: 40. The deadline to have your minor team at or under 40 players is the day before the start on the regular season. Penalties for failure will be determined by the commissioner at the time should such an event occur.

Expansion Style Parity Draft:
Was: Non-existant
Now: Rules have been defined but it was voted by majority to not take place. Rules below for posterity.

If we were to do a draft like this the following would be used as a ruleset:
Every team will provide a list of 13 players (half the 25 man roster, rounded up) they would like to protect
"Prospects" ie players who made less than $2 million last season would be exempt
No team may have more than 3 players claimed from them
A player claimed by a team is henceforth removed from the Parity Draft player pool and may not be selected by a subsequent team
The draft will be two rounds
Draft order selection will be decided randomly (with so many teams inactive for such a significant stretch of the season doing the draft order as inverse of the standings would not be an accurate representation. Some teams performed far worse than they would have if their lineups were being set, and conversely other teams performed better by preying on inactive lineups)

This draft, if approved through league vote, would begin as soon as possible on the boards. All teams would have 72 hours to submit their protected player list or I will choose for them and then the draft order will be determined randomly on random.org and we would begin.

Entry Waivers:
Was: Poorly worded as "UFA Adds". Only applicable for undrafted players.
Now: More clearly defined. Applicable for players whose rights are not owned by an NHL team for various reasons, regardless of current contract status.

Yearly Breakdown:
Was: Non-existant
Now: Outline a timeline for the league activities, including a post-season assessment period for rule change proposals/polls/etc