2012-13 Rules updates concerning CONTRACTS:
Releasing Players Under Contractin the past, FNHL buy outs were at a rate of 66.66% across the board for all players regardless of circumstances. we will start differentiating buy out types begin this season as of October 11, 2012 to introduce additional strategy/tools for cap management:
NEW Retired Players: NHL players who have announced their retirement can be bought out at 40.0% (x 0.40) of their contract value, standard b/o policy applies.
rationale: to prevent teams from circumventing the cap with a 100% buy out especially if FNHL owner/GMs know in advance of a pending retiring during free agency bidding; this rule still offers a discounted buy out relative to the standard 66.66% rate.NEW Player Signs with Non-NHL affiliated Team:: NHL eligible players who have signed a contract to play in a non-NHL affiliated league (ie. KHL, SEL, etc) excluding AHL and ECHL, can be bought out at 40.0% (x 0.40) of their contract value, standard b/o policy applies.
NEW Amnesty Buy Out (denoted in Buy Out section as "ABO"): Each team can buy out one (1) player at 40.0% (x 0.40) of their contract value which MUST be spread over the remaining yrs of the contract (ie. cannot buyout in 1 year if the contract has 2+ years remaining on it; contract has 5 years remaining then the buy out is spread over the remaining 5 years). ABO's can only be posted in the two (2) week period following the conclusion of the FNHL Stanley Cup Finals
(refer to FNHL Deadlines for exact dates). Other standard b/o policy applies.
rationale: a strategic buy out tool for teams using a small window of opportunity year-end to provide cap relief and allow for more team transactions during the upcoming off-season yet ensures the owner/GM retains some cap cost. Read more about this new rule in this post.NEW Death: NHL eligible players who have passed away can be bought out at 100.0% (x 1.00) of their contract value, standard b/o policy applies.
rationale: standard practice to render a contract null & void in cases of death and since teams cannot foresee this, they should be released from the financial burden.note: FNHL Rules for "Contracts" will be updated accordingly.
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