Line integrity

[admin]

Evening gentlemen,

I was talking with someone this evening and the discussion of a "race to the bottom" came up. There have been discussions about things that could be watched out for, but right now with the accelerated schedule, I think some aren't recognizing potential pitfalls.

Based on a suggestion from Andrew, the injuries have been turned down; with so many games in a row, guys will never truly get a chance to rest. With that being said, I have noticed there are currently 32 players who are averaging 25 minutes or more each game. We know in the NHL, the 28-minute man is not very common, but we have so many pushing the envelope. There are no rules surrounding double shifting, let alone triple shifting as seen in the past.

What do you think should be watched out for? I know in years past, during the remaining X (so many) games, Adam has relinquished his team to ensure nothing is wrong.

I don't know what I'm really asking here, if it's looking for feedback on your best practices for the year that can be shared, or if I'm hoping for specific things that can be looked for that should be avoided.

Let talk.

Brett

[Release The Kraken]

If the injury is short term, I generally just plug in the replacement player into the injured player's spot on all lines. I've found that is the cleanest way to do it, regardless of the accelerated schedule because why re-jig every line and double/triple shift players (risking further injury) for somebody who is going to miss a bit of time and return in a week or so. With that said, I'm not the most competitive team at the moment so nothing I do will make me a playoff team given my goaltending lol. So I can see how a team in the thick of a playoff race may handle things differently.

[HartfordWhalers]

Triple shifting/quad shifting
Emerg goalies/low OV goalies playing all the games
A whack of 0 ice time players in the game sheet daily
Less than 18 skaters dressed every game

[Sharks1]

Make Goalies clear waivers like the rest of players and not be exempt from the OV rule would help. Starting goalies on a teams farm needs to change imo

[Release The Kraken]

100% agree with Vito.

[admin]

Ok Goalies, what is the desired result? I ran the numbers to see what happens, and as of now there are 10 goalies in the farm that would have been triggered.

Now using the RedWings as an example. I have 3 goalies total, as we are required by the rules

Alexandar Georgiev 79
Martin Jones 77
--------------------
James Reimer 76

So, because I am ensuring to have a "real" goalie, and not relying on an emergency goalie, I should be forced to carry all 3 on the pro club? Where is the value in this? When we tried that before, I found it frustrating, and was removed. I have never said it has to be "my way". What is the value in this? Talking high level, I don't know, but entirely possible teams might have 4+ goalies in their system, potentially meaning more spots on pro club are required.

[HartfordWhalers]

How is having 3 decent goalies helping teams suck for Celebrini this year or Shaefer next year or McKenna the year after?

[admin]

Affected Goalies

[admin]

So... I reallly didn't get any feedback from this, nor the comments I made about the suggestion that was put forward.

I want to be able watch for situations, but then of course there comes the question if a GM should be able to do whatever they want. At one time I am sure it was in the rules to the effect of everyone's expected to try to win, but of course the race to the bottom seems to be interesting for whatever reason.

[Release The Kraken]

Blatantly tanking (not playing your best players) should be the issue we are trying to address in my opinion. Rebuilding teams who trade assets, that's how a rebuild is done. But purposely not dressing a goalie, or putting a star player on the 4th line to limit their impact should be warned and then eventually penalized. I don't really know what the SIM is capable of managing, as the intent is definitely not to cause more work for Brett and Robbie, but my suggestions would be as follows:

For lines: the Sim should automatically re-order the lines based on OV average. In the GMEditor, the OV average per line if shown. Just allocate ice time based on highest OV line then next up, and so on. Because auto-ing lines doesn't always work as some line combinations simply do not work and guys want to ticket with combos.

As for goalies, set a CD threshold to rest a starter. And games in a row limits etc. So if the starter is above say 98 CD, the backup can't play more than 1 game in a row. If starter falls below 97 CD, backup can play as many games in a row as required. Third string goalie can only start if both goalies are are under 97 CD. Goalie can only be rested if 95 CD or less.

The goalie issue is definitely more prevalent. If you don't want to play your starter, trade them. Benching a healthy and rested starter is BS and multiple teams have tried it, including at least two teams this season. Penalty should be like 3 strikes you're out kinda thing. Not put of RSHL. Just not eligible for the lottery so that team's 1 automatically becomes the 14th overall pick or whatever. Conversely, if that's too extreme, then lose control of managing your own lines (assuming the SIM can handle it without creating more work elsewhere)

As an aside, goalies should absolutely be subject to waivers. Should be age based though, not rate based. Teams can stack multiple high level/high value goalies in the minors. Look at NYI (not picking on them, as they're playing by the current rules and doing nothing wrong, just using them to illustrate the point) but they have 3 goalies sitting in the minors that are all immediately better than half the teams currently lottery eligible.