I'd like to hear from others on a cash trading cap. My idea would not be to restrict out-going cash as it is indeed a good trade chip for rebuilding teams.
My specific idea would be to limit cash received by any one team to a total of no more than 10% of over-all cap ($9.5m) for any given year, to a maximum of $38m in any one trade. ($9.5m for 4 years).
My reasoning is to keep the field competitive at the top which in turn hopefully incentivises more trades. Bottom teams will also have to drum up more trades with more partners to move their cash instead of just shunting $50m in one go.
I do see the merit in restricting the amount of cap 1 team can take on. We would eliminate the Cedric/Habs strategy of going for it all. I don't love this strategy since if the GM doesn't stick around after they shoot their wad, then we have a rebuild franchise to find a new GM for which is never easy. This also adds an administrative layer - Fantrax can't handle this type of rule, that I know of. Sorta hinders rebuild flexibiity but I like the idea of forcing these rebuild trades around the league instead of just one or two front runners hosing down the entire roster. Just noting positives/negatives. Haven't fully fleshed this out in my head yet...
I would pair this proposal with an initiative that all teams field an active roster of 90% regular NHL players. I'm all for active tanking but loading up with 45 non-playing prospects is an insult that we can and should avoid.
Tough one to administer. I don't want to take too much rebuild flexibility out of the equation. Especially when I have to attract new GM's to rebuild teams and, as I mentioned, that's not easy. I like to say something to the effect of "hey, this squad isn't in good shape, but here's some tools to get you going".
Reducing max contract duration is pretty obvious. 4 years is still a long time if the contract holds value but knocking a year off will make buying out a bad contract much easier.
I think we're ready to put this to a vote.