[Cliffsnotes]

OFFSEASON RULES & LEAGUE MANAGEMENT THREAD


This post will be frequently edited to show the current status of the preparations for next year. See the posts below for additional details.

2021-2022 Pre-Season To Do List:

1.1 2021-22 Payouts
1.2 Find 12 Owners
2.1 Pandemic Specific Rules
2.2 Normal Offseason Rule Changes
3.1 Offseason Trades & Keepers
4.1 Draft


1.1 2021-22 Payouts

I will confirm that Hodgey has paid the winners. (EDIT: Hodgey has confirmed that payments were made months ago).

DONE!

1.2 Find 12 owners

I have created a facebook post for this. Please post there, or let Hodgey or JD know via PM if you are returning (let's not clutter the thread below).

Here's the current list of those who have committed to 2021-2022:

1. JD
2. Hodgey
3. Dallas
4. Solly
5. Lance
6. DevSop
7. ALL CAPS
8. Sharky
9. PanicFan
10. MDWDFW
11. Jennifer
12. MmmmmBaker

DONE!

2.1 Pandemic Specific Rules

A couple of years ago, I made an executive decision to move IR from 2 to 4 roster spots. I'm putting this to a vote to see if we keep it or move it back. Otherwise I believe we will start acting like the pandemic is in the rear view mirror.

I haven't checked or seen anything specific, but I believe the NHL is returning to a fully normal schedule in 2022-2023, so I expect we will be able to have a regular season of 22 weeks.

UPDATE: Per the League Poll, we will move to 3 IR Spots this season.

Please speak up if you have any short term/pandemic rules that need to be addressed.

DONE!

2.2 Normal Offseason Rule Changes

The big discussion has been on Home-Ice advantage. Based on the negative feedback, this rule will be dropped. We will have a few polls based on this discussion and playoffs.

Per two league polls:

Playoffs move to Top 6 teams with a First Round Bye for top two seeds.

The Playoff Tiebreaker (If games end 6-6-1, for example) will be most Goals in the playoff matchup. I'm making an executive decision to make the next tie breakers Save Percentage, then Shots on Goal, then Saves, then STP. All are based solely on the postseason matchup.

Done!

3.1 Offseason Trades & Keepers

As always, you may make trades at any time. However, you may wish to wait until rules are confirmed.


4.1 Draft

Historically, it begins the day after Labor Day. We will confirm this soon.



The draft pick tracker is here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ccEmArLYhsdb_vVbIUTX-MA4Nhb8OH_GRyjxUYrrxgU/edit#gid=2

Any rules not explicitly stated here default to the ESPN Fantasy Hockey League Rules, if applicable.

[Road Warrior Shark]

[Cliffsnotes]

DRAFT UPDATE! ~VERY IMPORTANT~

A few slight changes to the draft this year. Shouldn't be a big deal, but this is different from how we have done it for almost a decade.

16% of our owners are going to be on vacation and away from technology from roughly September 9-17. To accommodate this:

1. We are moving up the due date for keepers to before Labor Day weekend. Keepers are due Thursday, September 1, at 8 pm Eastern. Hodgey will open the draft soon thereafter.

2. Once the draft opens, and continuing over Labor Day weekend, the draft will be Clockless. Please don't sit on your pick for 48 hours just because you can. The Clocks will begin on the day after Labor Day, Tuesday, September 6, at 8 am Eastern.

3. We will again pause the clocks, and be going clockless, on September 9th, as soon as a Solomon is on the clock. Clocks will resume on September 18th at 8 am. We have asked them to try to check in and perhaps leave a top 3 or top 5 each evening, but no promises.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

This is why you’re two of my favourite commissioners.

[Cliffsnotes]

Commish Note:

League Settings In ESPN have been changed to:

---Three IR Spots as determined by League Poll.

---6 Playoff Teams, top two teams get a BYE, as determined by League Poll.

---Home Team wins tiebreaker has been eliminated. Ties will now exist.

Please note, that while we have eliminated the "Home Team wins all category ties", we still have the possibility of a tie in a playoff matchup (such as 6-6-1). We voted to use "Most Goals in the Playoff Round" as the tiebreaker. However, EPSN does not give any options for selecting the tiebreaker in a Playoff Tie. The ESPN default (which cannot be edited) is that if a playoff matchup ends in a tie, the home team wins the tie.

As the league voted for Most Goals, we will use this. However, this will entail manual tracking if we have a tied playoff matchup overturned by Most Goals. Which will be a minor pain. However:

IF YOUR TEAM WINS A PLAYOFF MATCH DUE TO THE MOST GOALS TIEBREAKER, BUT ESPN DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THIS, IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OWNER TO NOTIFY THE LEAGUE AND COMMISSIONERS OF THIS CHANGE BEFORE THE PUCK DROPS IN THE FIRST NHL GAME ON MONDAY.

Once the puck drops, the ESPN listed playoff match is locked in. If you notify the league on Wednesday that you should have won and nobody noticed, you are SOL. This rule is not the responsibility of the commissioners to track, and we will not jump through hoops to accommodate a change.

[Cliffsnotes]

Commish Note: A minor issue arose regarding a player not listed in the ESPN database in the P&A league, and the drafting of such player by MmmmBaker. As such, we will note it here, and use this ruling going forward.

The following has been added to the Permanent Rules post:


Because this came up elsewhere, was discussed, and a decision made, we now have The Simon Edvinsson Rule: If a player is not listed in the ESPN player database, he may be drafted, and his rights will be maintained until the player is added to the ESPN database (as long as the owner keeps an open spot on their roster). After the draft is completed, a player who is not in the ESPN database may not be added or claimed. When ESPN adds players to their database, the players are placed on waivers, and at that time, the normal waiver process is used for claiming the player.