Team Captains:
To add an extra feature to PDH, we are introducing Team Captains to every team, similar to how each NHL team can have one Captain and three Assistant Captains during game play.
Each franchise will be able to name:
- 1 Captain [C]
- 3 Assistant Captains [A]
* Goalies are NOT eligible to be named team captains
- All 4 captains will have a no-trade clause [NTC], and be non-trade-able while they are a captain
- Captains are not able to be bought out, or waived and sent to the minors
- Team Captains do not necessarily have to be a captain on their real-life team
These Captains will get a slight reduction in salary cap hit, as follows:
Captain:
20% less cap hit
Assistant Captains:
15% less cap hit each
These reductions apply for all of:
- Players' existing contracts on start-up of the league
- Re-signing your own FA
- Matching the final winning RFA bid on your own player
- Upon the final winning FA bid (*If player is on your real-life franchise name. See below for more)
A Team Captain MUST be on your team name franchise in real life
Examples: (as of Oct. 2020)
(1) The Toronto Maple Leafs franchise could name: Tavares, Marner, Matthews, etc. as they are all on the Toronto Maple Leafs in real life. But not McDavid, Crosby or Ovechkin who are not on the Maple Leafs in real life, or Fredrick Anderson who is a goalie.
(2) The Tampa Bay Lightning franchise could name: Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman, etc., but not Andrei Vasilevskiy who is a goalie, or Pastrnak, Seguin, Kopitar as none are on the Lightning in real life
Team Captain Duration:
- Team Captains must remain captains for a period of 2 years
- Every 2 years, teams can re-assign their captains if they choose. The player's full salary would be re-instated if he no longer is a captain
Captains will be named upon start-up of the league in the 2020 off-season (For the 2020-2021 season)
In the off-season of 2022, teams will be able to re-choose their captains or keep the same ones.
The "Captain Naming Off-Seasons" will be as follows:
2020 - League start-up; Captains remain in place for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons
2022 - Captains remain in place for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons
2024 - Captains remain in place for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons
2026 - Captains remain in place for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 seasons
If a Team Captain is Traded or Leaves in FA in Real Life:
Free Agency:
- If any of your captains leaves your real life franchise in free agency, you must immediately choose a new captain.
Your new captain will get the cap reduction, while your former captain will revert back to full salary cap hit
(This immediate action is because real-life FA happens in the off-season and not during a season)
Traded:
- If any of your captains is traded in real life, he will no longer be eligible to be a team captain for your franchise
However:
- The player may remain a team captain for the remainder of that season, as a real-life trade is an unforeseen circumstance that we cannot plan for in this league
- You must choose a new team captain in the off-season, and the traded captain will revert back to original/full cap hit
- You can, if you choose, re-name your captain mid-season if a trade occurs (if you have the cap to make it work)
In both cases, no matter when you have to re-name a new captain, they will be able to be replaced in the "captain naming off-season:"
Example:
Your team captain gets traded in real life during the 2020-2021 season
You then name a new captain that off-season - he will be your captain for the 2021-2022 season
The off-season of 2022 is when all teams review their captains and can make changes if they choose; Your new captain also falls under this even though he will have only been captain for one season. You can replace him at this time, or keep him as your captain
Note:
Team Captains do not necessarily have to be the "best" players on your team or highest scoring players.
Given that it is a 2-year window the player must remain a captain, some strategy will go into choosing your captains to maximize the cap reduction - but also understand that you will not be able to trade these players for 2 years.
So, while you might want to name a player a captain based solely on his cap hit even if he may not be a highly productive fantasy player, keep in mind that he would not be able to be traded, bought out, or sent to the minors for the duration of his captaincy.
