Year One Rules

1. Inaugural Auction:


Live auction (To be carried out on the draft forum here)

1. Everyone has a $90m auction budget. The salary cap is $81.5m. This auction budget allows teams to bid on prospects.
   
2. All player salaries are set by the auction price and contract rules laid out in section 5.
   
3. Any player on a real life NHL ELC contract selected in the inaugural auction can only signed until their real life ELC contract expires, at which point they will be subject to RFA Offersheet rules. (Section 5)                 
4. Inaugural draft and any future Free Agency free agency period rules are as follows: 
   
   1. Admin will "nominate" player(s) The first groups of player. One player per thread. 
   2. Once the Admin nominated portions of the bidding process is completed, the nominations will open up to all managers. 
   3. Please be reasonable with your opening bids. You're not expected to give your highest bid, but it's ridiculous to nominate Connor McDavid at $700,000.
   4. Bidding for each individual player would be opened until we have an 10 hour period without a bid. With stopped time between Midnight and 9:00 AM EST.
      
   5. ABSOLUTELY NO EDITING OF ANY POSTS IN A NOMINATION/BIDDING THREAD. If you feel you'd like to correct the spelling or your bid, make another post and it will be considered.
      
   6. The minimum bid is $700,000 per year.
   7. All subsequent bid must be a minimum of $50,000 more, up to $1,000,000. All bids after $1m must increase by at least $100,000. All bids must be divisible by $50k
   8. There is Maximum bid of 18% of the current salary cap. 2020-21 Cap is set at $81,500,000. Therefore the maximum salary bid that can be made is $14,670,000.
      
   9. Once the first "max bid" is made on a player, there will be 10 hours (plus stop time overnight) for other managers to match the offer. the team with the highest waiver priority will be awarded the player. That team will then move to the bottom of the waiver order.
   10. . Maximum of three bids allowed on goalies at a time, unless they have minors eligibility. No more than three active allowed in the auction. After the auction there are no limits.
       
       
   11. Please do your best to monitor how much you're bidding. If there's any chance that you have the top bids in auctions adding up over the $90m budget, then do the math. 
   12. Penalties are as follows.
       
       First offense you lose a 3rd round pick in next year's draft
       
       Second offense you lose a 2nd
       
       Third offense you lose a 1st
       

Post bidding contract decisions

After the auction there will be a thread dedicated to contract decisions. That's when you will post the contract length of each player you have won.

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2. Post Inaugural Auction Draft: 

1. Date: TBD: "Snake draft" To be held shortly after the conclusion of the inaugural auction. 
   
2. All players and prospects who are not owned will be available for a 7 round draft.
3. Eligibility: All available players born on or before September 15th 2002 are eligible. 
4. Any players on their ELC will have their contract follow their real life ELC (rounded to the closest $50k). 
5. Any player who has yet to be signed in the NHL will have their contract follow their real life ELC contract when signed (rounded to the closest $50k). In the meantime they can sit in the minors with a $0 salary.
6. Any player selected who is on a regular NHL contract can be signed using 85% of their real salary (rounded to the closest $50k) as their base salary. Use their age formula to calculate the new contract.  The minimum salary is 700k.  Any salary under 700k is automatically rounded up to 700k.
   
7. Any UFA/RFA without an NHL contract will remain as a $0 cap hit until they do sign. At which point their base salary will be 85% of their NHL cap hit (rounded to the closest $50k and not to go under the minimum salary, currently $700k.) The owner will have the option to reject the salary and drop the player with no penalty.
8. Draft will be held on Fantrax.
   
9. There is a 10 hour time limit for picks in rounds 1-3 and 8 hours for picks in rounds 4-7. This time is NOT intended for you to research and explore trade options. This time is only intended to prevent teams from missing their turn due to being unavailable. Please make your selection in a timely manner when at all possible.
   
10. The draft will not pause, this way selections can be made throughout the night. 
    
11. If you are not going to be available for an extended period of time, please contact a commissioner to make arrangements. We do not want anyone missing their picks.
    
12. If you miss your selection it becomes pick at any time within the next 32 selections, after that the pick is forfeited. 
    
13. Once the timer runs out on your pick, the time limit on your next pick will be 1 hour. Once you pick again on time your future picks will return to normal.
14. If you run out of time on consecutive picks then those picks are forfeited. 
    
    
    
    

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3. Rosters:

Weekly Lineup Changes in effect

You must dress
2-3 Centers
6-7 Wingers
5-6 Defensemen
1-2 Util
1-2 Goalies
4-8 Bench
24 Total "active roster spots"

50 Minors positions (You don't have to have 50 prospects)


3.1 Position Eligibility 

1. T determine if a player qualifies for C or W, take face-offs taken and divide by time on ice. Any forward who meets or exceeds .35 is deemed to be a center. Anyone under under .35 will be deemed a winger.
2. Each off-season all positions will be reset to reflect the above criteria.
3. There will be 3 C, 7W and 2 Util positions
   
   

3.2 Minor League Eligibility:

1. Any player who is 26 years old or younger as of Sept 15th of the current season and hasn't played 82 NHL games is eligible for the minors.
2. When a minor league eligible player in placed in a minor league position, their salary doesn't count towards the cap.
   
   
   

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4. General Rules:

• 1 team per GM/Owner only. If anyone is found to be running multiple teams, they will be removed from the league immediately.
• Asset lock date: January 13th 2021 - Draft Picks Will Be Reset (Not for inaugural season)
  
• You may exceed player and contract limits during the off-season but must be legal at all roster lock times
• All teams must stay roster and cap compliant through the completion of the USHL Championship matchup, including non-playoff or eliminated teams
  
• Injured Reserve: Only players on the NHL Injured Reserve List may be moved to the Injured Reserve slot. Eligibility will be determined by Fantrax.
  
• Players on IR have their cap hit taken off your cap while on IR. Once they come off IR in real life, you must take them off as well at which point any players you called up to replace him are under standard waiver rules.
  

 

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5. Salary Cap:

1. We will mirror the NHL salary cap and NHL salary floor at all times.
   i. 2020/2021 Salary Cap: $81,500,000
   ii. 2020/2021 Salary Floor: $60,200,000
   
2. You may go over the cap and below the floor during the off-season but must be compliant at roster submission for the season and you may not be non-compliant at anytime during the season.
   
3. Penalty System for going over/under the cap: For going over the cap:
   
   1. If after roster lock in a given match-up a team is over the cap, their team is effectively disqualified and they lose all match-ups that week. That's a first infraction.
   
   2. For each additional week of non-cap-compliance during the same season, on top of being disqualified for that week, the team is docked $1mil in cap space for the remainder of the season.
   
   3. If any single GM allows his team to be non-cap-compliant for five or more weeks in a season, the GM is removed from the league.
   
   
4. For going under the cap floor:
   
   1. If after roster lock in a given match-up a team is under the cap, the GM is given a warning.
   
   a. Their team is NOT disqualified for that week.
   
   2. For each additional week of non-cap-compliance during the same season, the team will be assigned a two-spot-drop draft penalty, where all draft picks owned by that GM at the draft drop two spots post-lottery.

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6. Salaries/Contracts

As stated in (1.A) all salaries are based on auction price
Auction contracts are based on 1 year.
If you want to sign a player beyond the one year you have to give them a raise/reduction based on their age on or before September 15th. 

*Maximum salary is 18% of the salary cap, based on the year in which the contract is signed. With salary escalation the salary can exceed 18%* 


Draftee ELCs (entry level contracts for players taken in the annual entry draft) DRAFTEE FORMULAS DO NOT APPLY TO PLAYERS SELECTED IN THE INAUGURAL AUCTION 

**STARTING WITH PLAYERS DRAFTED IN THE 2021 ENTRY DRAFT**

Contracts will match their real life NHL Entry Level Contracts (ELC) and cap hits.

**Contracts do not start until the player begins their real life ELC**

***any player under 35 who is signed to a 1 year deal cannot be re-signed. They will automatically become Free Agents in the following off-season.***

Ages 18-25
10% raise for a 2 year contract
12.5% for a 3 year contract
15% for a 4 year contract
20% for a 5 year contract
**Contracts do not start until the player begins their real life ELC**

Ages 26-30
15% raise for a 2 year contract
17.5% for a 3 year contract
20% for a 4 year contract
22.5% for a 5 year contract

Ages 31-34
12.5% raise for a 2 year contract
15% for a 3 year contract
17.5% for a 4 year contract
20% for a 5 year contract

Ages 35+
0% raise for a 2 year contract
-10% for a 3 year contract (reduction)
-12.5% for a 4 year contract (reduction)
-15% for a 5 year contract (reduction)

The salary/cap hit will be the same for the entire length on the contract. Example: A 5 year contract for a 18-25 year old with a $10m bid will be 20% raise for the entire contract. $12m x 5 years. 

All contracts will be based on the player's age as of September 15th of the current season even if the player changes age brackets at some point during the contract.

Managers will have a "Contracts" thread on their board to track all of their contracts. 

6.1 Re-signing Players

1. You cannot re-sign any player who was under 35 years old when last signed, if they were signed to a one year contract. 
2. You can re-sign a player who was 35 or over (regardless of the length of the previous contract) the cost of the contract will not change. Contract is based on their age as of Sept 15th of the year the new contract will begin. 
3. When re-signing players, the contract escalators are based on the salary of the previous contract. Retained salary will not lower the salary for re-signing purposes. The entire salary including any retained salary will be used.
4. Any "extension eligible" contract set to expire in the next off-season must be extended by January 1st or they will become a free agent in that off-season.

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7. Offer-sheets

All players coming off of their 3 year ELC are subject to offer-sheets.
There will be a 1 week offer-sheet period, beginning at 8am EST the day after the Stanley Cup finals are completed each season.
To present an "offer-sheet" you must PM (private message) the owner of said player with your offer. The title of the thread message should read as such "Anaheim Offer-sheet on John Smith." - Your offer is the salary you are willing to pay that player on a 3 year contract. After 1 week all managers making offers will post their offers in the offer-sheet thread and the owner will confirm which was the highest offer received.

1. The player owner will have 48 hours to announce his decision to match or not. If he matches he will sign the player for 85% of the highest bid for 3 years with an option for a 4 year contract for the full amount of the highest bid.
   
2. If there are no offers, the manager can re-sign the player using the contract scale for the player's age. Or he can allow the player to become a UFA.
3. Offer-sheet Compensation
   
   If a manager does not match, the highest bidder must pay the same compensation that the NHL (rounded off for our bidding purposes) has set out that season.
   
   

2020-21 Scale

$1,400,000 or below
No Compensation

Over $1,400,000 to $2,100,000
3rd round pick

Over $2,100,000 to $4,200,000
2nd round pick

Over $4,200,000 to $6,300,000
1st round and 3rd round pick

Over $6,300,000 to $8,500,000
1st round, 2nd round and 3rd round pick

Over $8,500,000 to $10,500,000
Two 1st round picks, 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick

Over $10,500,000
Four 1st round picks

These picks do NOT have to be the offering team's original picks. However, if the offering team has multiple picks in the round/s owed it will default to the offering team's original picks.

Example: Montreal presents the highest offer-sheet of $5.1M and it is not matched. He owes the owning manager a 1st and a 3rd round pick in the upcoming draft. He has his own 1st and Ottawa's 1st and he doesn't have his own 3rd but he has Ottawa's. He will give the owning team Montreal's 1st and Ottawa's 3rd. 

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8. Free Agency

All players not under contract to be dropped from your team at least 1 week before the FA auction (date to be determined each season)
Each year all free agents will be in the free agent auction
Each team will enter the auction with their remaining cap space


**All players not extended by Jan 1st of the final year of their contract WILL become free agents at season's end and will be put into the free agent auction.**

8.1 Waivers

1. Any player under contract can be put on waivers for the purposes of "demotion."
2. If a player is put on waivers, they will be available for all teams to put in a waiver claim. The team with highest priority will get the player and assume their entire contract.
3. Any player who clears waivers can be put in the "minors" and the team will save $900k
4. The waiver period is at least 24 hours, ending at 9pm EST
5. Player X is waived at 5pm on Monday. He is on waivers until 9pm Tuesday
6. Player Y is waived at 11pm Monday. He is on waivers until 9pm Wednesday
7. At the time of first roster lock, any player slotted in the minors who is not exempt and is not a UFA will automatically be sent to waivers and is eligible to be claimed
8. Players not under contract may be cut to free agency at anytime during the off-season

Termination Waivers:

1. If a team no longer wishes to own a player, that player can be placed on termination waivers.
2. If the player is either on their ELC, on a two-way NHL-given contract, or still has not signed their first contract, they can be placed on Termination Waivers for no cap penalty, if unclaimed. For any other contract, you will have to pay a penalty of 30% of such player's cap hit for each season that such player is signed. If a player is claimed, however, the waiving team shall be subject to no penalty, and the team who is awarded the player will have his full cap hit on their roster.
3. Players that have not been signed to a UHSL contract can be terminated with no penalty. 
4. To claim a player who has been terminated: You will create a thread on the "Waivers" sub forum of the Contracts board. 
   
5. The thread will be open for 48 hours. The team with the highest priority to make a claim will win the player.
   
   
6. The winning team will move to the bottom of the waiver list.

Demotion Waivers:

1. Waiver eligible players demoted to the minors that clear waivers will have their cap hits stay on the books, less up to $900k.
   
2. If the player is claimed, the claiming team must assign him to their active roster. The claiming team will be responsible for the whole salary, and the waiving team will be cleared of all penalties.

8.2 Waiver Exemptions:

   a. For a player to be Waiver Exempt he must be under the age of 26 on Sept 15th of the season and be under the career GP limits
   b. Career GP Limits For Skaters:
       i. Must have played 82 or less career regular season games to be exempt
   c. Career GP Limits For Goalies
       i. Must have played 82 or less career regular season games to be exempt
       ii. Exempt status is done in real time
       iii. This means players can lose their exempt status mid-season
       iv. Players losing their exempt status mid week stay exempt for that week in progress but no longer are exempt after that current week.

8.3 Waiver Claims

All unowned players will always be on waivers. Waiver claims will be processed every Sunday morning.

1. The initial waiver order is determined by lottery. After the inaugural season the waiver wire will be the reverse of the previous season's standings each year.
2. Waiver claims are to be place on Fantrax.
3. Claims will be processed every Sunday at Noon Eastern Time.
4. If you win a waiver claim, you move to the bottom of the waiver order
5. All unclaimed players will remain on waivers.
6. For all "won" players: If they are on an ELC contract they will follow their real life ELC and be subject to offer-sheets when that ELC expires.
7. For all "won" players: If they are signed a regular NHL contract, they can be signed using 85% of their real salary (rounded to the closest $50k) as their base salary. Use their age formula to calculate the new contract. The minimum salary is 700k. Any salary under 700k is automatically rounded up to 700k.
   
8. For all "won" players: If they are not signed they will have a $700k placeholder salary until they do sign an ELC or a regular NHL free agent contract. At that point they will follow the above rules.
   

8.4 Waiver Claims for players not in the Fantrax System:

1. If a player does not appear on Fantrax: You will create a thread on the "Waivers" sub forum of the Contracts board.
2. The thread will be open for 48 hours. The team with the highest priority to make a claim will win the player.
3. These threads can only be posted on Sunday to Thursday. This will allow us to adjust the waiver order after the claim is processed and allow the Sunday waivers to reflect the new waiver priority order. 

8.5 Buyouts and Retirements:

1. There will be a 1 week buyout period, beginning at 8am the day after the Stanley Cup finals are completed each season. Every team is permitted a maximum of 1 buyouts per year. The penalty for a buyout is the total of 30% of the salary for twice the length of the contract.
2. All players who were bought out are become free agents and enter the FA pool.
3. For players signed to multi-year deals, teams will have a cap hit of 30% of the AAV for the remaining years for players who retire during their contract.
4. There will be no penalty for any player retiring/leaving the NHL before the 2020-21 season begins.

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9. Scoring

Skaters

Goals (G)
0.6
Defense
0.63

Skaters Assists (A)
0.55
Defense
0.58

Blocks (Blk)
0.05

Faceoffs Won (FOW)
0.03

Faceoffs Lost (FOL)
-0.025

Game-winning Goals (GWG)
0.2

Hits (Hit)
0.025

Penalty Minutes (PIM)
0.025

Power Play Goals (PPG)
0.15

Short-Handed Goals (SHG)
0.2

Shots on Goal (SOG)
0.05

Time On Ice (TOI)
0.025

Goalies

Games Played (GP)
0.7

Goals Against (GA)
-0.55

Saves (SV)
0.054

Wins (W)
1

Shutouts (SHO)
1.5


Goals (G)
2

Assists (A)
1

Penalty Minutes (PIM)
0.025


Save Percentage (SV%)

Calculate Per Game, Cumulative:
From 0 to 1, award 0point(s) for every0.001SV%
From 0.9 to 0.909, award 0.003point(s) for every0.001SV%
From 0.91 to 0.919, award 0.003point(s) for every0.001SV%
From 0.92 to 0.929, award 0.005point(s) for every0.001SV%
From 0.93 to 0.939, award 0.006point(s) for every0.001SV%

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10. Schedule/Playoffs:

1. 4 eadd to head match-ups per week. One being against "league average." Team with the most points will win each match-up
2. Top 16 teams will make the playoffs. The playoffs will be head to head, one match up per week.

11. Trades:

1. Trading is open at all times excluding the time period between the Trade Deadline and the conclusion of our Cup Finals, see rule below for special rule
2. Trade Deadline for the 2020/2021 season : April 18th. All trades must be posted no later than 11:59pm EST of Trade Deadline Date
3. All trades must be posted on the "Trades" board. They will be offered, accepted and immediately executed through Fantrax. However if there is a protest it will be reviewed and discussed. Only trades deemed to be extremely unfair or a result of collusion will be vetoed. If a trade is deemed to be a result of collusion both managers may be expelled from the league. If the trade is deemed to be so lopsided that it is detrimental to the league, it may be vetoed.
   
4. Draft picks may be traded up to 2 years in advance
5. Once our Entry Draft begins you may trade the next set of picks. You do not have to wait until the draft completes, they are allowed to be traded once the draft begins.
6. No trade-back/rental trades will be allowed.
7. Any trades posted with assets a team does not own at the time of the trade are instantly invalid.
   
   
8. It is recommended that teams try to rework these deals out of good faith.
   
   
9. If deals involve the rights to a player or any conditions they must be stated as such.

Trade Posting:

1. One party must create a thread posting the trade
   
2. The second party must confirm the trade before anyone not involved in the deal may comment in the thread 
   
3. If there are more than 2 parties in the trade, all parties must confirm before others may comment
4. Traded draft pick formatting:
   Year, Round (Team)
   Ex: 2016 1st (TB), 2017 2nd (BOS), 2018 3rd (CAR), etc

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12. Salary retention: We will use NHL Rules...

1. The acquiring team must assume at least 50 percent of the remaining salary and cap charge of the SPC.
2. Such a contract can only be traded twice using provision 1 during the lifetime of the SPC.
3. Retained salary by the trading team cannot be more than 15 percent of the upper salary cap limit.
4. A maximum of 3 such contracts with salary retained in a trade can be on a team's books at any one time.
5. Retention does not need to be for the entire length of the contract, but must be specified when trade is posted.

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13. Games Played Requirements:

a. Each team must meet a yearly GP requirement for skaters
i. GP are accrued during the USHL regular season only
b. Skater minimum GP requirement for this season is 950 GP (2021 Season : 540 GP)
i. For every 10 GP short of the threshold, 5 standing points will be added to that teams total (only to calculate positions for lottery).
c. Teams that miss the skater GP threshold will also be barred from certain lottery wins, based on which tier they fall into using the following chart:
i. 935-949 (2021 Season : 525-539 GP) = Barred from winning #1. Drops to #2 with lottery win otherwise wherever they land, they stay.
ii. 920-934 (2021 Season : 510-524 GP) = Barred from #1 and #2. Would drop to at least #3 with any lottery drawing win.
iii. 905-919 (2021 Season : 495-509 GP)= Barred from any lottery position. Would drop to at least #4 with any lottery win and behind compliant teams with lottery drawing wins.
iv. 890-904 (2021 Season : 480-494 GP)= Same as previous tier but with an additional post lottery adjustment of dropping 3 spots.
v. 889 or less (2021 Season : 480 GP or less)= Same as previous tier but with a post lottery adjustment of dropping 6 spots. GM's status within league is up for review.
vi. Note that teams that miss GP and are barred from certain lottery wins may not slide into those spots either
d. New standings order due to GP adjustments goes for all picks for teams that miss, not just 1st round picks.
f. Teams who miss the GP requirements and do not own their 1st round pick will be penalized on a case by case basis.

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14. UHSL Entry Draft

a. Each off-season the UHSL Entry Draft will be completed before the actual NHL happens
i. 2020 USHL Entry Draft date will begin on TBD
b. Draft Order
i. Draft order is based on the NHL formula
1. The 15 teams that missed the playoffs during the previous NHL season are awarded the first 15 picks. They draft in order of fewest points to most points, subject to the results of the draft lottery.
2. The current USHL Cup champion picks last (32nd)
3. The USHL Cup runner-up picks 31st
4. The other two Conference Finalists pick 30th and 29th
5. Regular-season division winners hold the other lowest positions.
6. Remaining teams draft in order of fewest points to most points from the previous regular season.
c. Draft Lottery
i. We will mirror the actual NHL Draft Lottery results. The position each team finishes will correlate to the real life NHL team that finished in that same position.
1. Ex: If the team that finished in 28th place wins the lottery, our 28th place finisher wins, etc
d. Draft Rules
i. 12 hours available for each pick in rounds 1-2
ii. 8 hours available for each pick in rounds 3-7
iii. If you miss your selection it becomes pick at any time within the next 31 selections, after that the pick is gone.
1. If the latter occurs in the first 3 rounds GM receives a warning.
iv. Selecting an already owned player results in a pre-warning, and your selection becomes pick at any time within the next 30 selections (after that the pick is gone), if that occurs twice in the first 3 rounds GM receives a warning.
e. Players Eligibility Requirements
i. All un-owned players who are 18 or older as of September 15 of the current year are eligible for selection in the current USHL Entry Draft
15. Scheduling
a. The USHL Regular Season is 21 Weeks long
i. Note some Weeks might be longer than 7 days based on the NHL schedule and us condensing it into 25 total weeks including playoffs and our 2 week long championship match-up
b. Schedule will be generated by Fantrax.

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15. Tanking

a. Tanking is NOT PERMITTED
b. All USHL GMs are expected to dress a full and optimal lineup. It is recognized that optimal is a subjective term and all allegations of tanking will be reviewed with the accused GM afforded the opportunity to explain why their roster is not being used to try and lower their place in the standings. Penalties will be determined on a case by case basis with repeat offenders receiving harsher punishment. Summary, meeting GP regulations is necessary but not sufficient, benching your goalies is not a realistic scenario and is not permitted in the USHL for tanking purposes.

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16. Goalie Hoarding
a. Maximum of three bids allowed on goalies at a time, unless they have minors eligibility. No more than three active allowed in the auction. After the auction there are no limits.

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17. Ownership Changes
a. If/when a new GM takes over a team mid-season beyond the 25 game mark), the buy-in for that season for that GM will only be $25.00. Otherwise it's full price.
b. If the team in "currently" positioned finished 20th-31st, the buy-in for that season will only be $15.00

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18. Fantrax
a. There is a yearly fee of $70 for Fantrax. The cost of this will come from the league entry fees.
b. Fantrax rosters are the responsibility of each GM. This includes sending trade offers after completing a deal, ensuring your roster matches your Spreadsheet, dropped players are cut off your roster, etc.

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19. League Winnings
Tentatively set at $40 entry fee. With 32 teams, after the $70 Fantrax charge there will be $1210 remaining for rewards

• Stanley Cup Champion ~ $550
• Presidents Trophy Winner ~ $300
• Stanley Cup Runner-up ~ $80
• Regular Season Divisional Winners ~ $40 each 
• Owner of the Forward with the most points ~ $20
• Owner of the Defenseman with the most points ~ $20
• Owner of the Goalie with the most points ~ $20
• Owner of the Rookie with the most points  ~ $20
  
• Biggest Drop in Draft Lottery ~ $20
• Biggest standings point improvement year over year (In year one this will go to the team with the best record from Period 8) ~ $20

***Loopholes will be closed immediately and any trades/contracts that exploit loopholes will be nullified.***