Not Another Sim Hockey League Rulebook

Rules as of August 20, 2023

If you are interested in joining, please email the commissioner to express your interest. Include your name and your past FHL experience as well as what team you'd like if there is more than one opening. Once you are approved, register on the forums (your account will need to be verified by a forum admin) and post a brief introduction.

NOTE: You may only run one team at any given time. When you are caught running multiple teams (you will get caught), you will be kicked out of the league and not allowed to return. Any trades made between the teams you were running will be reversed.

Table of Contents

1. ABOUT THE LEAGUE

1.1 BRIEF HISTORY
1.2 COMMISSIONER
1.3 SIMULATOR

2. FHLSIM LEGEND

2.1 PLAYER RATINGS
2.2 PLAYER ROSTER
2.3 TEAM SCORING

3. REGULAR SEASON

3.1 SIM SETTINGS
3.2 SCHEDULE
3.3 TRADE DEADLINE
3.4 STANDINGS TIE-BREAKERS

4. PLAYOFFS

4.1 QUALIFYING
4.2 MATCHUPS

5. ROSTERS

5.1 REQUIREMENTS
5.2 INJURIES & SUSPENSIONS
5.3 WAIVERS
5.4 ROOKIES
5.5 ANTI-TANK

6. GM DUTIES

6.1 DEFINITION
6.2 CAPTAINS
6.3 LINES & GOALIE MINUTES
6.4 POSITION CHANGES
6.5 TRADING

7. FINANCES

7.1 EARNING MONEY
7.2 SPENDING MONEY
7.3 SALARY CAP & CONTRACT INFO
7.4 PLAYER BUYOUTS

8. RE-SIGNINGS AND FREE AGENCY

8.1 UFA LIST
8.2 RE-SIGNINGS
8.3 FREE AGENCY
8.4 RFA COMPENSATION CHART

9. OFF-SEASON

9.1 RE-RATES
9.2 RETIREMENTS
9.3 AWARDS
9.4 RE-RATE APPEALS
9.5 TRAINING CAMPS
9.6 JUNIOR LEAGUE & PROSPECTS
9.7 ENTRY DRAFT


1. ABOUT THE LEAGUE

1.1 BRIEF HISTORY

The NASHL began with a 26-team selection draft in March 2018. The inaugural season, set in the 1997-98 season, began June 4, 2018. After Season 3, the league expanded to 28 teams, adding the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets.

1.2 COMMISSIONER

The league commissioner is James (Calgary GM).

1.3 SIMULATOR

The league utilizes FHLSim software.

2. FHLSIM LEGEND

2.1 PLAYER RATINGS

Short

Attribute

Description

IT:

Intensity

This is the player's ability to play at his peak level every shift on the ice.

SP:

Speed

This is the player's skating speed, which is both acceleration and raw speed.

ST:

Strength

This rating affects the player's ability to work in the corners, in front of the net, etc.

EN:

Endurance

The endurance rating allows players to take more and longer shifts during the game.

DU:

Durability

The durability rating is directly proportional to how often a player will come out of a game unhurt.

DI:

Discipline

A player with a low discipline rating takes more penalties and is more likely to fight when combined with Intensity.

SK:

Skating

This rating affects the player's to balance and move in all four directions.

PA:

Passing

The passing rating represents how good the player is at moving the puck or setting players up in scoring position.

PC:

Puck Control

A high puck control rating means the player is more likely to shoot and less likely to give the puck away.

DF:

Defence

A high defensive rating affects a players' ability to break up passes, rushes and cover offensive players.

SC:

Scoring

This is the players' ability to put the puck in the net and also to create scoring opportunities without the puck.

EX:

Experience

Experienced players tend to be more consistent from one game to the next, and tend to be more effective in close games.

LD:

Leadership

Players demonstrating leadership tend to make the whole team more consistent from game to game and shift to shift.

OV:

Overall

OV is a composite of the other ratings shown above. The weighting of these ratings is different for offensive players, defensive players and goaltenders, recognizing their important roles on the team and the relative value provided.


2.2 PLAYER ROSTER

Short

Description

CD:

Condition.
Determines the current health of the player in %. OK means 100%.

IJ:

Injury status of player

DD:

Day to day injury

1W:

1-2 week injury

3W:

2-4 week injury

1M:

4-6 week injury

3M:

2-4 month injury

IN:

Injured Indefinitely

S#:

Suspended for # games

HD:

Handedness


2.3 TEAM SCORING

Short

Description

GP:

Games Played

G:

Goals

A:

Assists

P:

Points

+/-:

Plus Minus

PIM:

Penalty Minutes

PP:

Power Play goals

SH:

Short Hand goals

GW:

Game Winning Goals

GT:

Game Tying Goals

S:

Shots

PCTG:

Shooting Percentage

GS:

Goal Scoring Streak (in games)

PS:

Point Scoring Streak (in games)


3. REGULAR SEASON

3.1 SIM SETTINGS

3.2 SCHEDULE

Each team plays 82 games in the regular season. There are two conferences each with two divisions. A team plays each team in its division a minimum of 4 times; each team in the other division in the same conference a minimum of 4 times; and each team in the other conference a minimum of 2 times.

A regulation win is worth 3 points, whereas in the North American model it is worth 2 points (all other point scoring is the same: 2 for overtime win, 1 for overtime loss or tie, 0 for regulation loss).

3.3 TRADE DEADLINE

The Trade Deadline takes place once 80% of the season has been completed. It is marked on the schedule, and an official time is posted around mid-season. You cannot make trades after the deadline has passed. Trading re-opens after the re-rate appeal period of the off-season.

3.4 STANDINGS TIE-BREAKERS

When two or more teams are tied in points, the first tie-breaker is total wins. If two or more teams have the same number of wins, the second tie-breaker is team goal differential. If two or more teams have the same number of wins and the same goal differential, the third tie-breaker is most goals for.

4. PLAYOFFS

4.1 QUALIFYING

Seed - a team's place in the standings with regard to playoff positioning.

Eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs each season. The teams with the most points in each division qualify for seeds 1-2 in their respective conferences. Of those teams, the one that finishes with more points earns the top seed. Seeds 3-8 in each conference are ordered amongst the next six teams, from most regular season points to least.

4.2 MATCHUPS

In each round, teams face off in a best of seven series. The higher seeded team in each matchup gets "home ice advantage", meaning they would play four home games if the series was played out in full. A team with home ice advantage plays games one, two, five, and seven at home.

FIRST ROUND
In each conference, the first place team plays the eighth place team, the second place team plays the seventh place team, the third place team plays the sixth place team, and the fourth place team plays the fifth place team.

SECOND ROUND
In each conference, the highest seed winner of the first round plays the lowest seed winner, and the second highest seed winner plays the second lowest seed winner.

THIRD ROUND (CONFERENCE FINALS)
In each conference, the two winners of the second round play each other.

FOURTH ROUND (FINALS)
The winners of the third round face off for all the glory.

5. ROSTERS

5.1 REQUIREMENTS

Your team must consist of a minimum of 20 players and maximum of 25 on your pro roster. The rest of your players can be sent to your farm team with a maximum of 30 farm players.

Each team must have at least 5 centers, 5 left wings, 5 right wings, 8 defencemen, and 3 goalies. These requirements are an insurance policy in case of injuries/suspensions. If a team cannot dress 4 of each forward position, 6 defencemen, and 2 goaltenders, the sim will not allow games to be played.

5.2 INJURIES & SUSPENSIONS

During the course of the season, there is a chance that your players will be injured or suspended during a game. An injury could range from one day to the entire season, while a suspension could range from one game to five games. See 2.2 PLAYER ROSTER for a short explanation of the various lengths of injury.

5.3 WAIVERS

Players over the age of 26 who have played at least 10 games must clear waivers in order to be assigned to the minors. Players stay on waivers for 48 hours from the time they are placed, during which any team can claim them. You can only make one waiver claim at a time; to do so, email the commissioner with:

Player's Name:
Team you are GM of:

If more than one team places a claim for the same player, the team that is lowest in the standings has priority.

5.4 ROOKIES

Players entering the league are considered rookies. A player loses his rookie status and becomes a veteran the earlier of the end of the season he plays his 25th career regular season game and the off-season that he turns 26 years old.

5.5 ANTI-TANK

Deliberate tanking is not acceptable; you must play your best possible lineup at all times. Signs of deliberate tanking include but are not limited to:

- starting a goaltender with a low OV rating who is obviously playing worse than a goaltender with a higher OV,

- playing skaters in your lineup with a lower OV than skaters on your scratched list or farm team, and

- playing skaters with a lower OV higher in your lineup than skaters with a higher OV.

If you are caught deliberately tanking, your team will be penalized with reduced lottery odds and/or reduced draft position. The consequences are determined on a case by case basis. In extreme circumstances, you may even lose draft picks.

6. GM DUTIES

6.1 DEFINITION

These are the responsibilities you accept upon joining the league as a general manager. Failure to comply could result in fines, player suspensions, or dismissal.

6.2 CAPTAINS

Each season, you must appoint a captain and two alternate captains. This can be done in the designated topic on the forums. You cannot name goaltenders as captain or alternate.

The captain receives a permanent +8 LD while the alternates each receive a permanent +5 LD. If you trade any of your captains after naming them and subsequently name a new one, the new one is not eligible for the LD points until the next off-season.

Captain Points
As long as a player remains captain of the same team, he is eligible for Captain Points each off-season. These points can be distributed however you like. A second year captain receives (1) point; a third year captain receives (2) points; and a captain serving four or more years receives (3) points each off-season.Be aware that this applies to captains only, not alternate captains.

6.3 LINES & GOALIE MINUTES

Lines must be submitted through the Online GM Editor (OGME).

If you are caught with illegal lines, your highest rated player will be suspended (the length of the suspension starts small and increases with each violation). Legal lines include the following:

- You must dress 18 skaters and 2 goaltenders for each game. You can choose to dress 12 forwards and 6 defensemen, 11 forwards and 7 defensemen, or 10 forwards and 8 defensemen.

- You cannot double shift more than 2 skaters at even strength, and a player that is double shifted must have one of those shifts on the 4th line. You can double shift players on special teams.

- A player cannot have 0 minutes of ice time in a game.

Goaltenders cannot play more than 4,200 minutes in a season, which is equivalent to 70 games. At the end of the regular season, if one of your goaltenders exceeds this limit, your team is fined $3 million. In addition, the goaltender receives a suspension of one game for every 20 minutes over the limit (rounded up).

This suspension is immediate and is served in the playoffs and/or carried over into the upcoming season. If the goaltender leaves your team for whatever reason (retirement, free agency, trade, etc.) before the suspension is complete, the suspension is transferred to your highest rated goaltender at the start of the next season.

6.4 POSITION CHANGES

You can request to change a player's position by posting your request in the designated section on the forums. If you have just acquired a player, wait for them to show up on your roster before making the request otherwise it will be missed.

Position change requests are processed twice a week (Tuesday and Friday), and are done before the sim on those days.

During the off-season, position changes will only be done on the last day before the next regular season begins.

You must provide proof in the form of a player profile listing the player's position(s) from one of the following websites:
- HockeyReference
- EliteProspects
- HockeyDB
- NHL
- Forecaster

A player that is eligible for both a forward position and defence can only move between forward and defence once per season.

6.5 TRADING

A trade occurs when two (or more) GMs agree to swap assets. Assets can be players, draft picks, and cash only. When all sides have come to agreement on the trade, post it in the appropriate section of the forums.

AGREEMENT
Once you agree on a trade officially (you have posted your agreement on the forums), you cannot back out of it unless all parties agree to do so.

If you agree to a trade unofficially (via private messages, email, etc.), you can back out without the consent of the other parties involved but just know that they will probably want to hit you.

CONDITIONS/FUTURES
Conditions are allowed to be added to trades, but you must be very clear about the terms of any condition. For example: NewJersey trades a first round pick to Phoenix with a condition that if it is not a top 5 pick, Phoenix also gets $5,000,000 cash. If you owe a team an asset as part of a condition but you forgot and have since traded it away, you can privately rework the condition with the other GM and notify the commissioner of the new arrangement.

Trading "futures" is not permitted. At this time, a future is considered to be:
- nothing (you are simply giving away an asset);
- training camps (you agree to camp a player you are trading); and
- UFA re-signings (you agree to re-sign a pending UFA you are trading).

A note on training camps and UFA re-signings: you must wait until after the camp or UFA signing has been completed before trading the player. You cannot camp or re-sign a player that is not on your pro or farm roster.

The list of futures is not final and will be updated as more situations come up.

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
You cannot trade a player you signed in free agency until retirements for the year have been posted (usually the point when every team has played 20 games).

RENTALS
A player acquired at the deadline may be considered a rental under certain conditions. The advantage of a rental player is his salary will be reduced to reflect your team's remaining games (divide his salary by 82, then multiply the result by your team's number of games remaining).

To qualify as a rental, the following coniditions must be met:
- he has 1 year left on his contract or is retiring
- you must post in the trade that he is to be a rental
- you must post in the trade the breakdown of his new salary

If you acquire a player as a rental, you cannot re-sign him. If the player is not retiring, he will become an unrestricted free agent. You may bid on the player in free agency.

7. FINANCES

7.1 EARNING MONEY

Home game revenues: attendance is based on both ticket prices and the number of star (80ov+) players in the game. Ticket prices may be changed at any time by sending a request through the OGME with the new price.

Revenue sharing: each playoff team retains 20% of their playoff revenue; the remaining 80% is distributed equally among the 28 teams.

Awards: $500,000 is awarded to the winner of each award.

Articles: valid articles are paid $1,500,000 each (max. 8 per team per season). There is no minimum word count, but if it looks like you put little to no work in, the article will not be eligible for cash. Any article must include a picture to be considered valid. Articles are paid out at the start of each off-season.

Lines: each set of lines is paid $100,000 (max. equal to the total regular season + playoff games your team plays). Lines are paid out at the start of each off-season.

7.2 SPENDING MONEY

Player Buyouts: see 7.4 PLAYER BUYOUTS for more information.

Training Camps: see 9.5 TRAINING CAMPS for more information.

Arena Upgrades: During the off-season, you can renovate your arena to expand its current capacity. The improvements are a minimum of 250 seats and a maximum of 2,000 seats each season.

Once your current arena reaches its maxium capacity, you can upgrade to the next class (this can be done in the same off-season). When upgrading an arena class, you cannot skip classes (ex. if your arena has 18,000 seats, you must upgrade to a Class 2 arena). After upgrading your arena class, you cannot add new seats until the next off-season.

Arena upgrades are to be requested through the OGME. Select the new number of seats as the OGME instructs; if you are upgrading to the next Arena Class, add one seat (e.g. if you have 20,000 seats and want to upgrade to the next Arena Class, set your new seat total as 20,001).

Arena Class
Initial Cost
Initial Capacity
Max. Capacity
Upgrade Cost
1
-
13,000 seats
18,000 seats
$2,000/seat
2
-
18,001 seats
20,000 seats
$3,500/seat
3
$25,000,000
20,001 seats
22,000 seats
$5,000/seat
4
$50,000,000
22,001 seats
24,000 seats
$7,500/seat
5
$75,000,000
24,001 seats
26,000 seats
$10,000/seat

7.3 SALARY CAP & CONTRACT INFO

There is a hard salary cap with a floor that is always $14 million lower than the ceiling. You cannot go over the ceiling at any time, and you can only go below the floor within a week of the trade deadline. Failure to abide by the salary cap will result in suspension of your team's top player until the issue is fixed.

The maximum player salary is 18.5% of the cap ceiling, while the minimum player salary is 1% of the cap ceiling. Additionally, the maximum farm salary is 2.75% of the cap ceiling.

Note regarding injured players: players do not count towards the salary cap while they are injured. Since the Pro Payroll and SalaryCop pages still include injured players' salaries, therefore you can technically exceed the salary cap ceiling by the amount (or less) of the injured player's salary. The OGME ignores injured players' salaries, so it will give you a more accurate idea of your team's cap space.

Salary Cap Ceiling: $ 57,000,000
Salary Cap Floor: $ 43,000,000
Maximum Player Salary: $ 10,545,000
Minimum Player Salary: $ 570,000
Maximum Farm Salary: $ 1,567,500
Maximum Contract Length: 4 years
Minimum Contract Length: 1 year

7.4 PLAYER BUYOUTS

If you no longer want a player on your team, you can buy out the remainder of their contract. Buyouts can only be done in the off-season during one of the two buyout windows.

First window: the period beginning immediately after the playoffs end and ending 24 hours before the start of free agency.

Second Window: the period beginning immediately after free agency ends and ending at the same time off-season tasks are due.

To buy out a player, send a request through the OGME.

A player age 26 and under will cost 1/3 of his remaining contract; a player age 27 and over will cost 2/3 of his remaining contract. This amount will be subtracted from your team's finances and the player will become a free agent.

Note: if you do not have the funds to pay the buyout price, you cannot buy the player out.

A player who has been bought out cannot sign a new contract with the team that bought him out until the next off-season.

8. SIGNINGS AND FREE AGENCY

8.1 UFA LIST

Any time during the regular season, you can make an offer to a player on the UFA List by posting it in the designated section of the forums, using the format specified below. Once 24 hours have passed and no other team has outbid you, the player will sign. Unlike free agency, in order to outbid someone, you must offer more annual salary.

Topic Title
"Player Name"

Topic Text
"Team name"
"Contract offered"

8.2 RE-SIGNINGS

- You are responsible for familiarizing yourself with these rules.
- The commissioner reserves the right to dismiss anyone who does not complete their re-signings.

When a player's contract expires, he becomes either a Restricted Free Agent (RFA) or an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA). You can sign your pending free agents to a new contract at any time during the regular season by simply posting the signing(s) in the appropriate topic on the forums. You can reference the below re-signing charts when determining a new contract for your players.



DEFINITIONS
Bridge Contract - a bridge contract is a one or two year deal that is discounted by 20%. Any player age 20 through 23 with one year remaining on their contract is eligible for a bridge contract. Players can sign multiple bridge contracts. To calculate the contract's salary, find the corresponding salary on the above re-signing charts and multiply it by 80% (salary x 0.8).

Entry Level Contract (ELC) - a player's first contract.

Re-signing Period - the entire regular season. You can start posting your re-signings on day one of the regular season; your re-signings must be completed before the first day of the playoffs (exceptions are allowed at the commissioner's discretion).

Restricted Free Agent (RFA) - any player age 25 or younger during the current season with 1 year remaining on his current contract.

Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) - any player age 26 or older during the current season with 1 year remaining on his current contract.

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
There is no limit on the number of RFAs you can re-sign.

Instead of signing these players to a new contract, you can also post that you want to qualify any of your RFAs. A qualifying offer is equivalent to a 1 year offer worth 110% of the player's previous salary. A qualified RFA will go to free agency where any team can give him an offersheet (fancy way of saying a contract offer). You retain the rights to a qualified RFA, even in free agency.

If your qualified RFA signs an offer sheet, you have 24 hours to either match the offer and keep the player under the terms of the offer sheet, or accept compensation in the form of cash and draft picks (see 8.4 RFA COMPENSATION CHART for more details).

An RFA that has not been re-signed or qualified will go to free agency as a UFA. You do not retain his rights and will not receive compensation if he signs with another team.

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
You can re-sign one of your UFAs each season. The ability to re-sign a UFA is not considered a tradeable asset.

8.3 FREE AGENCY

RULES APPLICABLE TO ALL ROUNDS OF BIDDING
Offers are to be sent to the commissioner at commish@nashlhockey.com. Before free agency begins, the commissioner will email his team's offers to himself.

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

contract term: you can offer free agents any length of term between 1 and 3 years.

contract value: you must stay under the salary cap ceiling when making offers (exceptions are made for players that are eligible to be assigned to your farm team). Offers must be made in increments of $5,000.

signing bonuses: these cannot be offered.

winning bid: based on a combination of the number of years and annual salary offered. RFAs can choose to accept the qualifying offer if it is the best offer.

Each year has a preset multiplier (see table below), and the annual salary offered is multiplied by the preset multiplier that applies based on the number of years offered.

Years
Multiplier
1
0.50
2
0.56
3
0.62

Examples:
Offer1: 1 year, $6,000,000
Multiply the yearly salary of 6 by the preset multiplier above (0.5). The result is 3.

Offer2: 2 years, $5,000,000 per year
Multiply the yearly salary of 5 by the preset multiplier above (0.56). The result is 2.8.

Offer3: 3 years, $5,000,000 per year
Multiply the yearly salary of 5 by the preset multiplier above (0.62). The result is 3.1.

Based on these offers, Offer3 would be the winner as 3.1 is the highest result.

Restricted Free Agents
Minimum contract demand: offers to RFAs must be no less than 75% of the player's corresponding salary shown on the re-signing charts in 8.2 RE-SIGNINGS above.

You can make offers to your own RFAs during free agency; all rules of free agency apply.

If you sign another team's RFA to an offersheet, that team has 24 hours to either match the offer or accept compensation. If they match the offer, they sign the player under the terms of your offersheet. If they choose to accept compensation, you must give up your own team's original picks (they cannot be picks that came from another team). The picks must be from the next draft; if you owe multiple picks in the same round, the picks must be from consecutive drafts beginning with the next one. If you do not have proper compensation, you will be fined $5,000,000 and all of your free agent bids will be revoked. Refer to 8.4 RFA COMPENSATION CHART. If the player's current team does not have the cap space to match the offer, they automatically accept the compensation.

After free agency ends, any RFAs that remain unsigned will sign their qualifying offer, provided it meets the minimum contract demand outlined above. If the qualifying offer does not meet the minimum contract demand, the player will not sign it and you will have to sign him to a new contract the same way you would re-sign your players during the season (this contract would take effect immediately).

SYSTEM
There are up to three rounds of silent bidding.

FREE AGENCY SALARY CAP
Your team's salary cap ceiling for the entire duration of free agency is the current salary cap ceiling (see 7.3 SALARY CAP & CONTRACT INFO) minus the cap hit of your submitted lineup, provided it is compliant with the rules set out in 6.3 LINES & GOALIE MINUTES. You can submit lines any time during the off-season up to 24 hours before the beginning of free agency, at which point the Commish will load lines and lock lineups for the duration of free agency (you can still make trades, but they will not impact your free agency salary cap). If you do not submit lines, your free agency salary cap will be based on the lineup the FHLSim program sets for you.

Note: Bids on players that can be sent to the farm do not count against your free agency salary cap.

ROUND ONE
- 48 hours of silent bidding;
- you can send offers for any free agent;
- maximum of four (4) offers per team;
- players will sign the highest offer received (see "winning bid" above).

ROUND TWO
- 48 hours of silent bidding;
- you can send offers for any free agent that was not signed in round one;
- maximum of four (4) offers per team;
- if you have any tied bids for a player in round one, you must either submit a new offer with at least the same yearly salary or withdraw your bid (these do not count towards your maximum of 4);
- players will sign the highest offer received (see "winning bid" above).

ROUND THREE (if necessary)
- 24 hours of silent bidding;
- this round is only for resolving ties from the previous round(s);
- if you have any unresolved tied bids for a player in a previous round, you must either submit a new offer with at least the same yearly salary or withdraw your bid;
- players will sign the highest offer received (see "winning bid" above);
- if a tie is not resolved, the player will not sign with a team will be available when the regular season starts for all teams to make offers to.

OFFER FORMAT
EMAIL TITLE:
Team Offers (ex LA Kings FA Offers)

EMAIL BODY:
Player Name 1
Contract offered 1

Player Name 2
Contract offered 2

etc. (limit 6)

8.4 RFA COMPENSATION CHART

Salary Band
Salary
Compensation (draft picks)
1% to 2% of cap $570,000 - $1,140,000 1 year salary
(2%+1) to 4% of cap $1,140,001 - $2,280,000 (1) 3rd + 1 year salary
(4%+1) to 6% of cap $2,280,001 - $3,420,000 (1) 2nd, (1) 3rd + 1 year salary
(6%+1) to 8% of cap $3,420,001 - $4,560,000 (1) 1st, (1) 3rd + 1 year salary
(8%+1) to 10.5% of cap $4,560,001 - $5,985,000 (1) 1st, (1) 2nd, (1) 3rd + 1 year salary
(10.5%+1) to 13.5% of cap $5,985,001 - $7,695,000 (2) 1sts, (1) 2nd, (1) 3rd + 1 year salary
(13.5%+1) to 18.5% of cap $7,695,001 - $10,545,000 (3) 1sts + 1 year salary

9. OFF-SEASON

9.1 RE-RATES

After the playoffs end, players are re-rated by the sim. Additionally, after the sim re-rate is done, each player is given 4 EX.

9.2 RETIREMENTS

We use the FHLStuff program to determine retirements, and they are posted roughly around the 20-game mark. Players aged 34 and older are eligible for retirement.

9.3 AWARDS

At the end of each season, the year's awards are posted on the forums.

9.4 RE-RATE APPEALS

Since the sim is so harsh with its re-rates, you can appeal the re-rates of 3* of your players as long as they were age 33 or under during the season. A player who turns 34 in the off-season is eligible for an appeal as he was 33 during the season.

These are restore appeals, meaning your players' ratings will be changed back to reflect their ratings from the previous season. Any increases to EN, DU, DI, EX and LD will be kept.

To appeal a re-rate, post the players' names in the designated section on the forums. These are due before trading re-opens.

*You can choose to exchange "All Players" camps (the ones that cost $3 million each) for one additional re-rate appeal per camp exchanged up to a maximum of 6 re-rate appeals.

9.5 TRAINING CAMPS

Each off-season, you can send up to 6 pro/farm players age 25 and under to any camp; junior league players are not eligible. Every camp will also add 4 EX (with the exception of Poise Camp).

Unless otherwise specified, players can only be sent to one camp and each camp can only be used once.

FREE points may be distributed however you like, unless specified otherwise. Free points cannot be used to increase any attribute by more than 5.

ALL PLAYERS - $3,000,000 EACH

You can use up to three (3) of these camps.

- You can choose to exchange any number of these camps for one (1) additional re-rate appeal each.


FORWARDS ONLY
Dangler: SK (2), PC (3), FREE (3; maximum of 1 on SC)
Defensive Specialist: SP (2), SK (2), DF (5)
Playmaker: PA (3), PC (2), FREE (3; cannot be used on SC)
Power Forward: IT (3), ST (3), SC (3)
Sniper: SP (2), PC (3), SC (3)

DEFENCEMEN ONLY
Mobile Defenceman: SP (3), SK (2), DF (3)
PP QB "passer": SK (3), PA (3), FREE (3; cannot be used on SC/DF)
PP QB "shooter": PC (3), SC (3), FREE (3; cannot be used on PA/DF)
Shutdown Camp: IT (2), ST (2), DF (3), FREE (2; must be used on IT/ST)

GOALTENDERS ONLY
Intensity Camp: IT (3), SK (3), FREE (2)
Puck Handling Camp: PA (3), PC (3), FREE (3)
Reflex Camp: SP (3), ST (3), FREE (2)

FORWARDS AND DEFENCEMEN - $2,250,000 EACH

You can use up to one (1) of these camps.

Enforcer: IT (6), ST (6), DI (-8)
Speed Skating: SP (5), SK (5)
Weight Lifting: ST (9)
Two-way: SP (1), SK (1), PA (1), PC (1), DF (1), SC (1), and
FREE (3; 1 on SP/SK, 1 on PA/PC, 1 on DF/SC)

ALL PLAYERS - $1,500,000 EACH

You can use up to two (2) of these camps.

- These camps can be combined with any camp and you can also use the same camp twice.
- These camps can be used on players of any age.
- The cost of sending a player to multiple camps increases an additional $1,000,000 per camp after the first.


Disciplinary Camp: DI (15)
Ironman Camp: EN (7), DU (7), FREE (7; to be used on EN/DU)
Poise Camp: EX (7), LD (7), FREE (7; to be used on EX/LD)

9.6 JUNIOR LEAGUE & PROSPECTS

The 12-team junior league is home to your prospects as well as draft eligibile players. The maximum age for the junior league is 20 (the only exceptions are newly added draft eligible players).

During the off-season you can create up to two of your prospects (remove them from the junior league and add them to your pro/farm team). You can do so by posting in the specified topic in the forums and your prospect will sign an Entry Level Contract (ELC - defined below). If you notice one of your prospects is already playing in the NASHL, or is on the UFA List, contact the commissioner to have the prospect deleted.

If a prospect turns 21 and you do not sign him to an ELC before the start of the Entry Draft, he will re-enter the draft. If a team drafts the player, he will automatically sign an ELC with that team. If the player is not drafted, he enters free agency as a UFA.

Entry Level Contract (ELC): a 3 year contract with a salary of $570,000.

9.7 ENTRY DRAFT

There is a three round entry draft each season. Players eligible to be drafted include all players in the junior league who are:
- under the age of 21 and undrafted,
- age 21 and have not signed an ELC with the team that drafted them,
- over the age of 21.

NOTE: if you draft a player that is age 21 or older, they will automatically sign an ELC after the draft. See 9.6 JUNIOR LEAGUE & PROSPECTS for the definition of an ELC.

DRAFT LOTTERY
The order of the top 12 picks is determined by reverse order of standings and the top pick is subject to a lottery. There are a total of 1,000 combinations of 4 numbers (each number being 1-6) that are randomly assigned to each team. Each team is assigned an amount of these random number combinations based on where they finished in the standings (see draft lottery odds chart below).

The website Number Generator is used to determine the draft lottery winner. One combination of 4 numbers is generated and the team with that combination is the winner. If no team has that combination, then a new combination is generated (this process repeats until a winner has been decided).

Unlike the NHL lottery, the team that wins the lottery has their picks moved up in all three rounds of the draft, not just the first round.

PLAYOFF TEAMS
The remaining draft order is determined by playoff performance. The order is based on regular season standings, with the teams finishing with less points receiving the higher draft picks: picks 13-24 go to teams eliminated in the first two rounds; picks 25-26 go to those eliminated in the conference finals; pick 27 goes to the losing team in the finals; pick 28 goes to the winning team in the finals.

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
Once the entry draft is complete, three players that were drafted in the second and third rounds are randomly selected as "diamonds in the rough":
- 1 player gains +2 to all of their attributes
- 2 players gain +1 to all of their attributes

DRAFT LOTTERY ODDS

28th overall 25.2%
27th overall 18.4%
26th overall 14.2%
25th overall 10.6%
24th overall 8.3%
23rd overall 6.4%
22nd overall 4.9%
21st overall 3.8%
20th overall 3.1%
19th overall 2.4%
18th overall 1.7%
17th overall 1.0%