So...
Clearly some of you guys need something else to think about other than drafting.
I know there's been a lot of questions about ratings and I've pretty much put up a cone of silence on the issue because frankly, I'm not all the impressed with the quality of the ratings work done this year so far. I was holding out hoping some other player rater would step up, but that has yet to materialize.
While there are a some really goofy spots, I like to think that the main players are OK. The ratings spread (from 0-99) is not as wide as the last year so I'm predicting some pretty close and intense action. We will try our best to provide the best simulation experience we can with what we have.
One area that we'll be focusing a little more heavily this year is fatigue. It will play a more important role this year and especially for goalies, less of them will be able to play 70+ games. Like maybe 1 or 2. What this means for you is a little bit more TLC in regards to your line ups. Unless you're willing to manage your team at least weekly, I would advise keeping at least 5 million in cap space on your pro team free to allow for easier movement of replacement players during auto line usage.
The 35 total players MINIMUM is still our cap circumvention technique of choice.
You can see the 2012/13 Player Ratings Preview in the Offseason menu
Notable Free Agency Changes
We've decided to add a little curve ball. In the spirit of player movement, 100% no longer means 100% chance of a player accepting your contract offer. It is now capped at 98%. What this means now is that for your own free agents, you will have a 98% maximum chance of retaining the player. Otherwise they will test the market. For the open market, players will always take the higher value contract, HOWEVER, there will be a tiny percent that will choose not to play for you, even for 1 trillion dollars because you're based in Edmonton or something.
You must sign your RFA if you intend to keep them. "If they are not signed during the OWN Free Agents signing period, they will be available on the open market". - 20120731 - This statement under review internally
RFA Rules Amendment 2012-08-02
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FA must be tendered a contract if you want to keep their signing rights.
- Contract must be at least 90% resign probability based on the signing sheet.
- RFA who rejects a contract with at least 90% resign probability remains property of the team but will be subject to offer sheets at anytime.
- Any improperly filed contracts will result in the RFA achieving UFA status and no longer belonging to the team. The player will be available to the open market.
- It is the GM responsibility to properly file an appropriate contract. There are no second chances.
- This year, if your players has a birth year of 1986, he is considered an RFA.
OWN FREE AGENTS Signing Sheet Submission dead line - Sunday August 12th, 2012 END OF DAY Pacific Time.
I'd probably need sometime to clean up after this and have a proper list of free agents put up. Open season FA round 1 would start August 24th, 2012.
The updated signing sheet is now available for use and download when you click on the Free Agency menu.
Final note, a reminder for next year. Automatic Prospect Activation begins next year (2013-14). What does this mean? Well typically you put a post in the forum if you want to activate an eligible player and put him on your roster. You will still do that this year but starting next year, if your prospect played in the NHL and has a rating, they will be automatically activated onto your roster at their NHL salary cap hit.
Alright, that should keep you guys thinking while waiting for your turn to draft ;)
Anthony