EHSL Rules

1. Attributes, Ratings, and Rerates
i. What the attributes mean
ii. What the numerical ratings mean
iii. Re-rating players

4. Team Management
i. Trades
ii. Signing Free Agents and Groups of Free Agents
iii. Contracts
iv. Entry Draft information
v. Agents' duties and decisions
vi. Team Share Ownership
vii. GM Term Limits
viii. Waivers
ix. Six and Seven Year Contracts
x. Signing Bonus Restrictions
xi. No Renegotiation
xii. Buyouts
xiii. Injured Reserve
xiv. Farm Eligilibity Rules (the 75OV rules)

5. Salary Cap Regulations
Full details of the EHSL Salary Cap, Cap is set at 60 mil for season 24

90+ = Legend: This player will live on as one of the legends of the game. He is at the same level as Gretzky, Howe, Orr, etc. in their prime. There may be only one or two players of this calibre in every generation. (current examples: Crosby)
85-89 = Franchise player: This player is among the best of the best. He's the kind of player who can sell out a building or carry a team all on his own. There are usually less than ten players in the league that are this good, making them the true elite players in the league. (current examples: Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Forsberg, Nicklas Lidstrom)
80-84 = All Star player: This player is one of the best the game has to offer. This kind of player is a perrenial all star and capable of point-per-game production or more. Usually make up the top 40 or 50 players in the league. (current examples: Jarome Iginla, Rob Blake, Jason Allison, Steve Yzerman, Scott Niedermayer)
77-79 = Front-liner: This player is one the fringe of stardom. He's a player who typically plays on the top two lines of a team and typically scores 25+ goals and 60+ points (forwards). For defensemen, they can be among the best defensive specialists, good all around defenders, hard-shooting powerplay pointmen, or 40+ point defensemen. (current examples: Vincent Lecavalier, Ilya Kovalchuk, Scott Stevens, Sandis Ozolinsh, Martin Straka, Todd Bertuzzi)
73-76 = Second-tier player: This is a player who usually plays on the second or third line, depending on how good his team is and on which end of this range he's in. Consistently produces 30 to 50 points per season on offense or is a particularly good defensive player. During a hot streak, some of these players can even be capable front liners. (current examples: Claude Lemieux, Brendan Morrow, Shayne Corson, Lyle Odelein, Dick Tarnstrom, Robert Reichel)
69-72 = Third-Fourth liner / enforcer/ prospect: A player with this rating is either a veteran journeyman who is a veteran fourth liner (or third liner on some teams), or otherwise he is a rookie or prospect who has just entered the league. When the player is the former, he usually plays on a team's checking line or their third line. When he is the latter, he usually plays in the farm until he matures and develops into a higher rated player. All players signed after being drafted in an early round will be rated in this range. There are many players at the lower end of this range that do play in the farm league, but all are capable of playing in the pros as well and do get called up fairly frequently. (current examples: Tie Domi, Stephen Weiss, Mathew Barnaby, Tom Fitzgerald, Keith Carney)
68 and under = Farm Hand: This player usually plays for a team's farm club. He is either still too young to make his mark in the pro's or is just not good enough to crack it in the majors. However, some of these players will find their way onto pro rosters in certain situations, although usually as an injury reserve. (current examples: John Slaney, Bryan Muir, Krzyzstof Oliwa, Ladislav Kohn, Jerome Igilna)

86+ = Legend: This player will live on as one of the legends of the game. He is as good as Sawchuk, Bower, Dryden, Plante or Hasek in their prime. These goalies are dominant and are very rare. These goalies are capable of playing well enough to win the Hart Trophy. (current examples: None)
83-85 = Vezina Goalie: This bracket usually represents the top four or five goalies in the league. They're the kind of goalie a champioship contender looks for to carry them through the playoffs. These goalies are the typical cast in the running Vezina Trophy and can take even a poor team into the playoffs. (current examples: Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Jose Theodore)
80-82 = Top Ten Goalie: These are goalies who are recognized as being among the top ten (or top third) of the league's goalies. They are the better starting goalies in the league, and any of them are very capable of winning a championship on a good. (current examples: Olaf Kolzig, Ed Belfour, Curtis Joseph)
77-79 = Starting Goalie: These goalies are established starting goalies. They aren't all stars or the kind of goalie that's good enough to take a team a long way on their own, but are solid performers and can be very successful with the right team around them. (current examples: Fred Brathwaite, Felix Potvin, Ed Belfour)
75-76 = Borderline Starter/Backup: These goalies are goalies who are capable of being starting goalies, but don't fit into the top 3/4 of starting goalies in the league and therefore could probably only start for the weaker teams in the league. Their other role is as outstanding backups. Many of these goalies are young goalies who are on their way to becoming full-time, legitimate starters. (current examples: Brent Johnson, Marc Denis, Kevin Weekes, Brian Boucher, Steve Shields, Manny Legace)
70-74 = Pro Backup: These goalies are established in the pro league, but in the backup role. They are the higher tier of backups, capable of carrying the load for 25-30 games a season and performing well in that role. Many of these goalies do spend time in the farm league as a means of getting more playoff time, and many are young goalies who are still developing into starters. (current examples: Jani Hurme, Rick Dipietro, Trevor Kidd, Corey Schwab, J.S. Aubin)
67-69 = Farm All Star / Poor Man's Backup: Many of the goalies are among the better goalies in the farm league, who excel in that league because they spend most of the year there and are rarely called up. They are also able to backup in the pro league, but that role is not ideal for a goalie of this calibre since they would be a significant step down from most starting goalies and can hurt a team if overused. (current examples: Peter Skudra, Neil Little, Terry Friesen)
66 and under = Perennial Farmer: These goalies are not good enough to be a backup in the pro league, and usually find work as a starter, or even a backup, in the farm league. Some have a future in the pros and are just very young, others will never make it, others are washed up former pro goalies. (current examples: Francis Larivee, Jim Waite, Drew MacIntyre, Rick Tabaracci)

EHSL Re-rates will two times over the calendar year, once at the end of the winter season which will be a rerate where a GM can request 3 players to be re-rated and then the commish can do 3 of his own players up or down. The full re-rate will take place at the end of the summer season where the re-rate committee will do a full roster re-rate using the NHL regular season and Playoffs to come up with the #s.

B. Playoff seeding follows the NHL format where seed #1 plays #8, #2 plays #7, etc. Division winners are automatically seeded 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

All lines will be submitted to league commish Bill Hamm via email using the gm editor and gmfiles. If Lines are not sent in once a week teams will be fined 1 million dollars and face future fines or discipline.

Trades - Trades must be emailed to me by both teams. All trades submitted are final once they have been updated on the site. Please title all trade emails "TRADE TOR and MTL" as an example. Obviously, you would substitute TOR and MTL with the initials of the two teams involved. Trading deadline is at the 85% mark of the season.

Free Agents. - When a contract expires, a player becomes a free agent, depending on the age of the player. There are five different groups of free agency and they are listed below:

Group I Free Agents - These are players who were undrafted and are not signed by an EHSL team. These players can be signed as UFAs through the player's agent at any time after they are passed over in the draft.

Group II Free Agents - This group is commonly known as Restricted Free Agents. Restricted Free Agents can be signed on the open market through the agents, but there are restrictions. If you sign a RFA, his old team can match your offer. Also, compensation will be awarded if to the old team should the old team pass on the chance to match the offer.

Unrestricted free agents. These players are age 27 or older and can be signed by any team. Also, any player who remains a holdout for an entire season qualifies as a UFA.

Any RFA player that has not received a public, good faith offer (above his previous year's salary) by the day prior to opening day of the regular season will be automatically assigned a contract and placed on a farm roster to fill out farm rosters around the league.

All contract negotiations for extensions, free agents, coaches or prospects must be done through the player agent. If a contract negotiation cannot be agreed apon the GM can request salary arbitration, that GM can only use salary arbitration two times over the course of that season.

Drafts are held in May of each calendar year, therefore only once every two EHSL seasons. There will be 4 draft rounds. You will be able to choose for the first 4 rounds, and the rest will be automatically completed. This is the way other leagues have done it and seems to work well. Also, the draft picks for rounds 5 through 8 can't be traded.

Agents have the right to request trades for their client, request salary arbitration for his client, or have his client hold out (only in the last year of a contract). When an agent requests a trade, the GM can choose whether to act on the request. If a GM decides not to trade the player, the agent will decide what further action he will take on behalf of his client. If he requests salary arbitration, the agent and the GM will each submit a value and an argument for that value to the other agent. The arbitrator will then assign a one year contract based on the arguments. Arbitration can only be used once a player is either a RFA or a UFA. A player will holdout if he wants to renegotiate a contract. As a GM, you can let him sit or negotiate. This course of action will be a last resort used by an agent if negotiations aren't going well. The agent will notify you in the offseason if a player plans on holding out.

Once a player has played 18 games in a regular season and is over the age of 24, he can't be moved down to the farm team unless he clears waivers. Every team has the opportunity to claim a player when he is placed on waivers. Should more than one team make a claim on a waived player, the team who has a lowest winning percentage will be given priority.

Signing Bonus Restrictions - Signing bonuses are no longer allowed in the EHSL.

You may buyout a player's contract in the week leading up to the beginning of free agency (this means now, for Season 19). If you buyout a contract, you must pay 2/3 of the remaining amount right now in cash. That amount will then count against your cap, and can be spread over twice the length of the bought-out contract. The player then becomes a UFA, except that he cannot re-sign with the team that bought him out.

Buyout example 1: Player A's contract has 1 year left at 3 mill. Team X buys out the contract prior to Season 19. Team X can choose to either have their Season 19 cap number reduced by 2 mill, or to have their Season 19 cap number reduced by 1 mill and their Season 20 cap number by 1 mill.

Buyout example 2: Player B's contract has 3 years left at 3 mill per season. Team X buys it out prior to Season 19. Team X can choose to have their cap number reduced by 1 mill in Season 19 through Season 24, or to have their cap number reduced by 2 mill in Season 19 through Season 21.

a) Any skater rated 75 OV or higher or goalie rated 78 OV or higher cannot be sent to the farm, unless they are under the age of 23 or on their first pro contract.
b) Any skater rated 75 or higher or goalie rated 78 or higher that is not on a team's pro roster on the final cap check day at the trade deadline, is ineligible to play in the playoffs, regardless of their age or contract status.

Coaches must be hired through the agents just as the players are including salarys. Agents must send contracts to the Commish in order to be official.

At the start of Season 7 and from that point forward, all EHSL franchises must adhere to the regulations and restrictions set forth by the Salary Cap regulations. The Salary Cap was implemented by popular sentiment from league general managers and by a formal vote in favor of the measure by the EHSL Rules Committee in order to maintain financial stability in the EHSL. The regulations governing the league under the jurisdiction of the salary cap are described in this section of the EHSL rules.

I. Cap Limit: The current salary cap is $62,000,000. This number is based on the Pro Payroll number on the team finance page.

II. Increasing/Decreasing the Cap: The Cap will be revisited at every GM Meeting to determine an increase or decrease.

III. Check date: Team payrolls will be judged to be over or under the cap on the first day of the regular season in each season.

IV. Movement above the cap: After the check date on the cap number, no signing or trade will be processed that would put a team over the salary cap. Teams can exceed the salary cap between the end of the regular season and the last day of preseason, and should they exceed it, they will be penalized with the corresponding cap penalties. Any team over the cap at the start of the season will not be allowed to further increase their payroll either.

VII. Penalties for Cap Violations: Any team whose payroll exceeds the cap will be subject to all of the following penalties:
a)1st time offence the team will be fined $1,000,000
b) 2nd offence will be another $1,000,000
c) 3rd offence will be another $1,000,000 and their next 1st rnd draft pick
d) 4th offence will be $5,000,000 and loss of next 3 draft picks

If you want to change a player's listed position in the sim, you must ensure that the player is eligible to play that position. TSN.ca or cbc.ca are acceptable sites that all use the same database. I will no longer accept player position change requests based on the position listings anywhere else.

Players in the EHSL will retire when the player announces his retirement from the NHL. Former NHLers playing in the Swedish or Russian elite leagues may remain in the sim. Should a player announce his retirement once the EHSL trading deadline has passed, the player will not retire from the EHSL until the end of the season.

The Hall of Fame committee is responsible for selecting inductees to the league's hall of fame. This section of the rules outlines the guidelines under which the Hall of Fame committee operates:

I. Hall Eligibility: Any retired EHSL player or current EHSL general manage or head coach is eligible to be inducted to the EHSL Hall of Fame by a decision of the Hall of Fame Committee.

II. Schedule: There is no waiting period between the end of a player's career and the time when he may be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Meetings of the Hall of Fame committee are to be scheduled by the committee chair. He is also to decide when voting will open and close. The Hall of Fame committee must adhere to the requirement that they must announce to the commissioner of the league a list of inductees, on which at least one inductee must be listed, by the beginning of November in each calendar year. Hall of Fame inductions will be held in the middle of November every year.

III. Responsibilities of the Chair: The chair of the Hall of Fame committee is the head of the committee. He is responsible for setting the agenda of the committee, accepting recommendations from committee members, moderating discussions, and working towards building a consensus. Voting procedure is set by the Chair, and he can choose to go based on inferred opinion rather than a formal vote. After consultation with the committee or following a vote, it is the right and responsibility of the Chair to present the list of inductees to the commissioner of the EHSL to be published for the league to see.

IV. Responsibilities of Members: It is the responsibility of the members of the Hall of Fame Committee to collectively generate a list of candidates to be inducted to the Hall of Fame each year. Under the jurisdiction of the committee chair, the members of the committee are to propose candidates and work towards a consensus on the committee.

All prospects can be created once they have played 40 NHL games in one season or 70 NHL games over three seasons. The GMs will watch this and post the Prospects name on the Prospects link on the MB and then the Creator will make him. the prospect will then be a hold out status till the agent and GM come to terms with a contract. GMs will no longer need to post links on the players. All unsigned/undrafted players requested need to hit the teams prospects list till they have meet the required games played. All Prospects are considered RFA unless 27 yrs old and older.

NEW GMS
All new GMs will be buddied with a veteran GM till the Veteran GM signs off the new GM is ready to roll with the punches.

GM Activity
All GMs will now be held accountable for how they run their teams. GMs must keep their teams in the Positive when it comes to money. GMs not sending in lines once a week will be fined. GMs not looking to improve their teams will be warned then replaced. GMs must respond to their fellow GMs trade requests no matter how they feel about it. If a GM show no activity at all he will be given a private warning from the Commish and if that doesn't work he will be replaced right away. A veteran GM will be asked to run the team till a new GM can be put in place.

Each team is given a set of numbers between 1 and 100. The commissioner will roll a dice and whichever team has the winning number will move up a maximum of 5 positions. Therefore, only the worst 6 teams have a chance at securing the 1st overall pick. If a team outside the top 6 wins, they move up 5 spots. Here is the percentage breakdowns based on the standings. Teams will be seeded as per season 14 regular season standings.

These are the rules of the EHSL. Any questions, comments, or suggestions can be sent to the League Commish, Bill Hamm. The EHSL rules and regulations are derived by the commissioner, the vice president, the rules committee, the agents, and the owners. All major rule changes are put forward to the rules committee and the league in email surveys and are put in place through a democratic process which ensures that the rules are in place to best serve the league and its teams.