Waivers

[Rob]

Just so I have this all correct before I vote.  The only way to get the 50% reduction in the contract is if someone claims the player on waivers right?  If the player clears waivers then the original team is still stuck with the whole contract?

Exactly.  The player won't clear waivers until the end of the season, though.

[jmtrops]

rob can you outline the 2 methodes of wavers we are voting on so we are 100% clear

[Rob]

rob can you outline the 2 methodes of wavers we are voting on so we are 100% clear

The method I proposed is pretty simple:  If you release a player, they go to waivers and remain there until the end of the season that they're waived in.  All teams have the ability to claim your released player with priority going toward the teams at the bottom of the standings.  Once a player is claimed the claiming team assumes 50% of the players contract, and the releasing team receives a 50% reduction to the players' salary that remains on their books.  If a player goes unclaimed he becomes a free agent. 

The 2nd method is closer to what the NHL actually does, and is a bit more complicated.  We haven't really discussed how we would implement it exactly, but the general idea is if you waive a player there's a time period that he stays on waivers.  If he is claimed by another team in that time period, the claiming team assumes his entire contract.  If he goes unclaimed, the team waiving the player is able to send the player to the minor league roster.  At this point the player can either rot in the minors or his team can call the player back up, at which point he has to go through a re-entry waiver process.  This is similar to the normal waiver process where the teams with the least points have priority, but if the player is claimed by another team the team making the claim is only responsible for 50% of the players' contract while the releasing team is responsible for the other half. 

[jmtrops]

So could I just send those guys I cut to the minors and there salary would not count on my cap.

[Rob]

So could I just send those guys I cut to the minors and there salary would not count on my cap.

Theoretically yes, but like I said we haven't talked about how exactly we would handle that.  It would clash with our minor league eligibility rules and, in my opinion, make it far too easy to stash bad contracts. 

[Rob]

Looks like we have a majority in the poll anyway.   

[GypsieDeathBringer]

The NHL has a 48 hour time limit from when the player is waived for other teams to place a claim, and then after that they are able to be stashed in the minors.  Oilers did it to Souray, Rangers did it to Redden.  Not saying it is fair, but that is what the NHL does.

[Rob]

I think the poll might have been a little unfair as far as how we should do it.  The consensus is clear that we should have waivers, but while the 50% method was ironed out and the NHL method was discussed, we never really talked about how exactly we would implement the NHL method and the advantages and disadvantages of doing it.  There should probably have been a poll asking if we should have waivers or not, then another poll about how to do it. 

If we did entertain the NHL method I feel the waiting period should be an entire season.  48 hours is too short and would make it too easy for teams to get rid of bad contracts too quickly.  If the waiting period was the entire season, we would enable teams to stash bad contracts in subsequent years while forcing them to keep them on the books for the entire year in which they're dropped.  This method would make it easier to kill longterm bad contracts.  Though, it's not perfect.  A loophole that comes to mind is if a team waives a player on the last day of the season, allowing them to stash a contract with really no penalty at all.  I'm still of the opinion that this makes it too easy for teams to rid themselves of bad contracts, but it is how it's done in the NHL and if we're aiming for realism we probably should give it some more consideration. 

I know it seems we've beat the subject to death but I want to make sure we give the alternative method a fair debate.  We do have plenty of time before the season starts anyway.

In the meantime, the 50% method is now in effect.  If you'd like to reconsider the 2nd method please post your thoughts.  If there's enough traction for it we'll do another poll and go from there. 

[Rob]

Rules have been edited:  http://www.profsl.com/smf/index.php?topic=24546.0

[jmtrops]

We need to remember that the real NHL has two way and one contracts and the team really has to pay these guys so since we can't have the burden then we should not use their system unless we can account for all the different aspects