Potential Minor Roster Increase

[Ric_2227]

I think we should stick with 30. You have to evaluate the players in the minor and drop some of them or trade your draft picks to ensure you don't go over the limit.
It will also keep up the value of draft picks and should increase the quality of the choices we are face with in the draft.

[jmtrops]

I think we should stick with 30. You have to evaluate the players in the minor and drop some of them or trade your draft picks to ensure you don't go over the limit.
It will also keep up the value of draft picks and should increase the quality of the choices we are face with in the draft.

for me what will happen when the teams are about at the minor limit the value for 1st and 2nd rnd pix goes up and the later pix become almost worthless because those are the pix that need time to develop and no one will have the space to let them do that. yes 30 seems like it should be enough but its not. In backyard we have a 30 player minors and a 5 round draft and its not really enough if you want to let your pix have the time to develope and thats with 5 rounds. we have 7 and I know with the 30 minor guys I have I dont see myself cutting any of them to draft 7 guys next year.

anyways I think it would be a good change from the other leagues if we can have well developed minor leagues. since we have RFA here that the other leagues dont have so I dont think restricting minor leagues and get a few extra FA because of it is worth it

[Vik]

Nice to have a healthy discussion here. Discussion is more important than poll for sure, I just figured getting a poll initially helps get a quick sense of where everyone stands but those are not firm options especially with feedback so far. For now I want to say no decision will be imminent either way, as I see both sides and taking into account what is best for league health. Unlike playoff change, which I think I am more set on with my last post, here we can take more time for sure. Maybe in the coming weeks right around when season starts I can a new poll with additional options brought up and ultimately decide among those. Ultimately no impact until next offseason at the earliest anyway.

I do realize not everyone might be happy with decision 1 way or another and that is totally fair and expected. Since I knew some would oppose increase in general, was thinking maybe only doing so in 2 years would be a fair compromise as it would allow for more time to adjust and less of a immediate impact on picks (though I think making picks more valuable can't hurt). I will say, I do also like the 7 spot increase starting next year and going from there on a year to year bases.

Backyard is a good example brought up to show differences because there it is very difficult to actually improve your minors with bidding not allowed on guys with zero NHL experience. Specs can only be obtained through draft or bid on eventually when they make their NHL debut and as such less spots makes a lot more sense. If you trade picks you are stuck with a weak minors for most part in BY. With our setup not only do we have full 7 rounds of picks but the fact we can then also bid RC via FA opens up many ways to build minors, so my thinking was no harm in giving more wiggle room to wait on some guys you would otherwise be forced to drop. Even with a increase of say 5-10 spots there will still be plenty of tough decision to be made. Also you really never know who will actually pan out but having a little more room to wait on some guys who are 2-3+ years away and question marks in terms of what they become doesn't hurt. I am sure most of us see upside and like potential in all our minors which is why we own who we own, but how many will become true stars is anyone's guess in in a few years we will all have guys we held for a while that will never even make it up. My thinking is why not allow for a few more spots for long shots but within reason (I agree a huge increase especially immediately is also not way to go).

[Rob]

Good stuff.  Glad to hear the poll is not binding.  If a majority of the league agrees with a change then we should implement that change.  But I do prefer to see topics like this hashed out like we are now - so that the voters understand all the intricacies, positives and negatives to both paths, before they cast their vote.  In lieu of casting a kneejerk vote without really considering the full extent of the change. 

[GypsieDeathBringer]

I don't think the value of our draft picks is ever going to depreciate if the minors stay at 30.  Every player in the NHL draft will be in our draft each year.  If there are good players in that there will be value for our picks.  Especially with half the NHL teams being represented here.  Our 7 rounds is just 3.5 of the NHL draft.

I echo Rob's sentiment that a smaller minor roster lets some guys slip through the cracks so to speak.  Maybe they aren't drafted, or maybe they are cut from one of our teams and then go on to have a breakout year.  It also reduces the hoarding and makes teams actual evaluate their players every year. 

[Vik]

Realize this is still somewhat open topic for discussion.  At this point in time I am thinking we should stay at 30 and if anything implement an increase starting next year.

However, also open to further off season discussion and can easily get a new poll and/or proposal if there is enough support via feedback to make any changes this off season (for this specifically, but also always willing to listen to resonable rules changes in general)