Next Off-Season - Expansion Draft

[Dallas Stars]

Hey guys,

With the upcoming expansion, tough decisions loom for every team, so we wanted to give everyone a good amount of time to get their teams in order. The expansion draft will be taking place in June, before the Entry Draft and Free Agent Draft. An exact date will be set closer to the end of the season. Here are the rules:

Protection Lists:

- Any combination of 10 Skaters, plus one Goalie
- Any player that is a RFA/UFA and is re-signed will count towards your Protection List (unless they are 22 years old or under)
- No Movement Clauses will not be in affect as per usual
- Any player 22 years or younger as of June 1st 2017 will be exempt from the Expansion Draft.

Exposure Requirements:

- One Defenseman that is under contract and played at least 40 NHL games the previous season
- Two Forwards that are under contract and played at least 40 NHL games the previous season
- One Goalie that is under contract
- If any team fails to reach these minimum requirements, Vegas will be given the choice to select ANYONE regardless of age off of your roster that was not on your 10 man protected list OR opt to select your 2018 1st round pick as compensation

Rules for Expansion Franchise:

- Las Vegas must select one player from each team for a total of 30
- Las Vegas must select at least 14 Forwards, 9 Defensemen and 3 Goalies
- Las Vegas must not buy-out any drafted player until the season after
- Las Vegas must be within $15,000,000 of the cap floor for the following season
- Las Vegas will then be able to choose 3 free agents before teams are allowed to sign their RFAs and UFAs. Teams can only lose ONE impending free agent.
- Las Vegas will be given the last pick in the 1st round (32ndpick) the last pick in the 2nd round (64th pick) and 96th pick in the 2017 Entry Draft (cannot be traded)
- Las Vegas will be given the first 2 picks in the Free Agent Draft for the first 3 rounds.
- Las Vegas will be able to talk trades with teams prior to the expansion draft so that teams can come to an agreemnt with Vegas on protecting certain players. Las Vegas can agree to select a certain player in exchange for other players and draft picks. For example: Las Vegas would have selected Chris Chelios from the Detroit Red Wings. However, the Red Wings came to an agreement with Las Vegas to send them a 1st round pick and Tomas Kopecky. Las Vegas MUST receive at least ONE player in the deal no matter what, that player is up to the discretion of the teams involved. Las Vegas must also still meet the minimum requirements of having 14 Forwards, 9 Defenseman and 3 Goalies by the end of expansion (even after trades).

Here's a quick timeline for the next year;

- NHL Regular Season (Oct-Apr)
- NHL Playoffs (May-June)
- You will have two weeks after the Playoffs end to finalize your re-signings (June)
- Expansion Draft (end of June)
- Trading opens up
- Entry Draft (early July)
- FA Draft (End of July-early August)



Any other questions please do not hesitate to ask.

[Andre]

Sept 12, 2016 18:51:51 GMT -5 Dallas Stars said:

Rules for Expansion Franchise:

- Las Vegas must select one player from each team for a total of 30
- Las Vegas must select five more players from all available UFA/RFA's for a total of 35
- Each team may only lose up to two players
- Las Vegas must select at least 14 Forwards, 9 Defensemen and 3 Goalies
- Las Vegas must not buy-out any drafted player until the season after
- Las Vegas must be within $15,000,000 of the cap floor for the following season
- Las Vegas will be given the first and second pick in the 2017 Free Agent Draft
- Las Vegas will be given the 91st and 92nd pick in the 2017 Entry Draft (cannot be traded)

Why does Vegas get to pick an additional 5 unsigned players? Giving them 5 unsigned players and then the top 2 picks in the Free Agent effectively gives them the 7 best free agents in the league.

Between the 30 expansion picks and the 5 entry draft picks (rnd 1, 2, 3 and picks 91 and 92***), they only need 10 more players to fill out their 45-man roster.  

Why not just give them two back to back picks at the beginning of each round of the free agent draft and help spread the free agent wealth to the other struggling teams, who will be left with nothing but table scraps after the best 7 free agents all go to Vegas.

***Which should actually be picks 94 and 95 now that each round has 31 players being selected

[Andre]

Also, where will Vegas select in the Entry Draft?

[Deleted]

Sept 13, 2016 19:03:25 GMT -5 Andre said:

Also, where will Vegas select in the Entry Draft?

I would assume it'd be the same as in the NHL, where LV is assigned the 3rd place odds in the lotto.

[Deleted]

Sept 12, 2016 18:51:51 GMT -5 Dallas Stars said:

Hey guys,

With the upcoming expansion, tough decisions loom for every team, so we wanted to give everyone a good amount of time to get their teams in order. The expansion draft will be taking place in June, before the Entry Draft and Free Agent Draft. An exact date will be set closer to the end of the season. Here are the rules:

Protection Lists:

- Any combination of 10 Skaters, plus one Goalie
- Any player that is a RFA/UFA and is re-signed will count towards your Protection List
- No Movement Clauses will not be in affect as per usual
- Any player that is 22 and under as of June 1st 2017, will be exempt

Exposure Requirements:

- One Defenseman that is under contract and played at least 40 NHL games the previous season
- Two Forwards that are under contract and played at least 40 NHL games the previous season
- One Goalie that is under contract and played at least 20 NHL games the previous season

Rules for Expansion Franchise:

- Las Vegas must select one player from each team for a total of 30
- Las Vegas must select five more players from all available UFA/RFA's for a total of 35
- Each team may only lose up to two players
- Las Vegas must select at least 14 Forwards, 9 Defensemen and 3 Goalies
- Las Vegas must not buy-out any drafted player until the season after
- Las Vegas must be within $15,000,000 of the cap floor for the following season
- Las Vegas will be given the first and second pick in the 2017 Free Agent Draft
- Las Vegas will be given the 91st and 92nd pick in the 2017 Entry Draft (cannot be traded)

Here's a quick timeline for the next year;

- NHL Regular Season (Oct-Apr)
- NHL Playoffs (May-June)
- You will have two weeks after the Playoffs end to finalize your re-signings (June)
- Expansion Draft (end of June)
- Entry Draft (early July)
- FA Draft (End of July-early August)



Any other questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Bolded two things I have issue with. 

Will state why for 2nd item first. 91st and 92nd overall pick the math just does not add up. Are they only getting the 1st, 2nd and then two more picks in that area? Then it should be 93rd and 94th pick (2 plus 3 rounds for 30 other teams and then these 2 picks). Does LA get one pick each round inbetween? Then it should be 95th and 96th picks. Just need to fix the math and make a tad more clear what is happening here.

First bolded part...20 games is just too much for goaltenders. There was only 58 goaltenders who played 20 games last year (regular season can't imagine playoffs added anything). If we go to 2 years ago this number was 49. You are basically saying that some team is going to be forced to have their only decent goaltender open to being picked. That is just stupid imo. 

[Florida Panthers]

Sept 14, 2016 21:11:16 GMT -5 @yourself said:

Sept 12, 2016 18:51:51 GMT -5 Dallas Stars said:

Hey guys,

With the upcoming expansion, tough decisions loom for every team, so we wanted to give everyone a good amount of time to get their teams in order. The expansion draft will be taking place in June, before the Entry Draft and Free Agent Draft. An exact date will be set closer to the end of the season. Here are the rules:

Protection Lists:

- Any combination of 10 Skaters, plus one Goalie
- Any player that is a RFA/UFA and is re-signed will count towards your Protection List
- No Movement Clauses will not be in affect as per usual
- Any player that is 22 and under as of June 1st 2017, will be exempt

Exposure Requirements:

- One Defenseman that is under contract and played at least 40 NHL games the previous season
- Two Forwards that are under contract and played at least 40 NHL games the previous season
- One Goalie that is under contract and played at least 20 NHL games the previous season

Rules for Expansion Franchise:

- Las Vegas must select one player from each team for a total of 30
- Las Vegas must select five more players from all available UFA/RFA's for a total of 35
- Each team may only lose up to two players
- Las Vegas must select at least 14 Forwards, 9 Defensemen and 3 Goalies
- Las Vegas must not buy-out any drafted player until the season after
- Las Vegas must be within $15,000,000 of the cap floor for the following season
- Las Vegas will be given the first and second pick in the 2017 Free Agent Draft
- Las Vegas will be given the 91st and 92nd pick in the 2017 Entry Draft (cannot be traded)

Here's a quick timeline for the next year;

- NHL Regular Season (Oct-Apr)
- NHL Playoffs (May-June)
- You will have two weeks after the Playoffs end to finalize your re-signings (June)
- Expansion Draft (end of June)
- Entry Draft (early July)
- FA Draft (End of July-early August)



Any other questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Bolded two things I have issue with. 

Will state why for 2nd item first. 91st and 92nd overall pick the math just does not add up. Are they only getting the 1st, 2nd and then two more picks in that area? Then it should be 93rd and 94th pick (2 plus 3 rounds for 30 other teams and then these 2 picks). Does LA get one pick each round inbetween? Then it should be 95th and 96th picks. Just need to fix the math and make a tad more clear what is happening here.

First bolded part...20 games is just too much for goaltenders. There was only 58 goaltenders who played 20 games last year (regular season can't imagine playoffs added anything). If we go to 2 years ago this number was 49. You are basically saying that some team is going to be forced to have their only decent goaltender open to being picked. That is just stupid imo. 

Yeah I told Kyle that the games played for goalies will be abolished, they just need to be under contract. And correct these picks should be 94 and 95, (we forgot to fix it)

[Florida Panthers]

Sept 13, 2016 19:02:51 GMT -5 Andre said:

Sept 12, 2016 18:51:51 GMT -5 Dallas Stars said:

Rules for Expansion Franchise:

- Las Vegas must select one player from each team for a total of 30
- Las Vegas must select five more players from all available UFA/RFA's for a total of 35
- Each team may only lose up to two players
- Las Vegas must select at least 14 Forwards, 9 Defensemen and 3 Goalies
- Las Vegas must not buy-out any drafted player until the season after
- Las Vegas must be within $15,000,000 of the cap floor for the following season
- Las Vegas will be given the first and second pick in the 2017 Free Agent Draft
- Las Vegas will be given the 91st and 92nd pick in the 2017 Entry Draft (cannot be traded)

Why does Vegas get to pick an additional 5 unsigned players? Giving them 5 unsigned players and then the top 2 picks in the Free Agent effectively gives them the 7 best free agents in the league.

Between the 30 expansion picks and the 5 entry draft picks (rnd 1, 2, 3 and picks 91 and 92***), they only need 10 more players to fill out their 45-man roster.  

Why not just give them two back to back picks at the beginning of each round of the free agent draft and help spread the free agent wealth to the other struggling teams, who will be left with nothing but table scraps after the best 7 free agents all go to Vegas.

***Which should actually be picks 94 and 95 now that each round has 31 players being selected

The difference between them selecting 5 FAs before the F/A draft is going to be very different. What this does is make it so that Vegas has exposure to better players with these 5 extra picks. Given the fact that I would say 80-90% of the UFAs will not be resigned in the first F/A session because it will result in them having to be automatically protected if they are signed before the expansion draft. The players Vegas will be receiving are already going to be mostly 2nd liners at best, all this is doing is allowing them to pick up some decent 3rd/4th line options or some better tiered prospects in the C-B range

[Toronto Maple Leafs]

I think we leave the goalie games played at 20..its fair.. and you guys had time to discuss it before it was made public.

By abolishing the games played it means that you don't have to expose Holtby.... LOL... none of your other goalies will play 20 games...maybe Keumper but he played 21 last year and you don't want to take that chance do you??

In all seriousness... what happens if you don't have any players meet a criteria? What if somehow I don't have 2 forwards that played 40 NHL games the year before??

[Florida Panthers]

Sept 15, 2016 2:32:08 GMT -5 Toronto Maple Leafs said:

I think we leave the goalie games played at 20..its fair.. and you guys had time to discuss it before it was made public.

By abolishing the games played it means that you don't have to expose Holtby.... LOL... none of your other goalies will play 20 games...maybe Keumper but he played 21 last year and you don't want to take that chance do you??

In all seriousness... what happens if you don't have any players meet a criteria? What if somehow I don't have 2 forwards that played 40 NHL games the year before??

I have to use a protection either way on Holtby he's over 22.. lol so your trolling makes zero sense. The other fact is that not everyone is going to have a backup goalie that played 20 games, some teams may not even have a goalie that played 20 games (tanking teams). I told Kyle to abolish the goalie rule in our messages before this was even posted because like the real NHL expansion rules there are no goalie requirements other than the fact that they have to be under contract.

We are discussing the consequences of teams not meeting the criteria for forwards / defenseman and those will be posted shortly.

[Deleted]

So since the sim is a year behind, talent will be deluted next season, no?

[Florida Panthers]

Jan 19, 2017 20:15:11 GMT -5 @timwebb1212 said:

So since the sim is a year behind, talent will be deluted next season, no?

Only the contracts are a year behind the actual age of the players doesn't change. Basically all current 21 year olds and some 22 year olds are protected automatically.

[BDufault]

If you choose to expose certain players but still wish to resign them after the expansion draft if they are not selected, can you? Of course, this is presuming you still have resigns to use

[Florida Panthers]

Jan 19, 2017 20:37:24 GMT -5 BDufault said:

If you choose to expose certain players but still wish to resign them after the expansion draft if they are not selected, can you? Of course, this is presuming you still have resigns to use

Yup! There is a time in between the expansion draft and entry draft that everyone will get to finalize their signings

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2017 20:22:12 GMT -5 Florida Panthers said:

Jan 19, 2017 20:15:11 GMT -5 @timwebb1212 said:

So since the sim is a year behind, talent will be deluted next season, no?

Only the contracts are a year behind the actual age of the players doesn't change. Basically all current 21 year olds and some 22 year olds are protected automatically.

I mean the ratings are based on the previous year

[Florida Panthers]

Jan 19, 2017 22:52:16 GMT -5 @timwebb1212 said:

Jan 19, 2017 20:22:12 GMT -5 Florida Panthers said:

Only the contracts are a year behind the actual age of the players doesn't change. Basically all current 21 year olds and some 22 year olds are protected automatically.

I mean the ratings are based on the previous year

Sorry I'm not sure what you are trying to say exactly? The new ratings package will be out before the expansion draft so Vegas will be picking from the new ratings, not the current ones we are using this season. We start working on the ratings directly after the NHL Regular Season ends as playoffs don't factor into them.

[Detroit Red Wings]

Jan 19, 2017 18:58:06 GMT -5 Florida Panthers said:

We have updated the rules.

The new rule is that anyone born in 1995 or later will be exempt from the expansion draft. Our previous rule was anyone 22 years old as of August 1st 2017 was exempt. This makes it much easier for everyone to keep track and includes almost all prospects from the same draft year.

Wait what? Why change this now? I thought it was June 1? This just changed about 3-4 of my players.

[Florida Panthers]

Jan 19, 2017 23:08:23 GMT -5 Detroit Red Wings said:

Jan 19, 2017 18:58:06 GMT -5 Florida Panthers said:

We have updated the rules.

The new rule is that anyone born in 1995 or later will be exempt from the expansion draft. Our previous rule was anyone 22 years old as of August 1st 2017 was exempt. This makes it much easier for everyone to keep track and includes almost all prospects from the same draft year.

Wait what? Why change this now? I thought it was June 1? This just changed about 3-4 of my players.

Dallas Stars thought it would be easier to manage, but I am fine with it staying with June 1st as it was originally.

[Detroit Red Wings]

I don't really see why it would be hard to manage. You have to look at their birthday either way. Just seems shitty to do after this has been out for 5 months.

[Florida Panthers]

Jan 19, 2017 23:14:34 GMT -5 Detroit Red Wings said:

I don't really see why it would be hard to manage. You have to look at their birthday either way. Just seems shitty to do after this has been out for 5 months.

Completely agree, I will change it back to the way it was.

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2017 23:01:52 GMT -5 Florida Panthers said:

Jan 19, 2017 22:52:16 GMT -5 @timwebb1212 said:

I mean the ratings are based on the previous year

Sorry I'm not sure what you are trying to say exactly? The new ratings package will be out before the expansion draft so Vegas will be picking from the new ratings, not the current ones we are using this season. We start working on the ratings directly after the NHL Regular Season ends as playoffs don't factor into them.

My point is that because the ratings come from the '16-17 season, there will be 30 teams worth of what we have considered "NHL talent" to be shared amongst 31 teams, which will result in more lower ratings players playing. Didn't mean it as a bad thing, just an observation.