Ideas to improve the free agency market

[Corncob]

Op basically seems to want to make the actual NHL less competitive and less exciting in order to make the off season more exciting.

Can't we just find other things to excite us for a couple of months when there's no hockey?

 

[Brainiac]

Just a few thoughts on the subject.

Keep RFA status. It helps smaller markets.

Increase the difference between salary floor and cap. As of now it's way too small. Lower the floor a little, increase the cap. I say that for a very simple reason: most cap team are 2 injuries away from being cap floor teams. This is ridiculous.

It wouldn't help FA market, but I'd also do something like that:

-Teams can have one superstar contract. It's given to a player you drafted and doesn't count against the cap.

-Or, cap hit of a player is 90% of his salary if it's a player you drafted.


The one thing that would help FA market is to get rid of guaranteed contracts. Let's say the max term is 8 years, but the team can opt out of the contract after 4 or 5 years. The guy then becomes FA. Long and guaranteed contracts are one of the major reasons why FA market sucks. Most star players are out of the market for 8 years.

 

[NoShowWilly]

max length contracts: 5 years with current team, 4 years with a new team.

 

[XX]

Move FA to before the draft. More trades at the draft that way.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

How can we make free agency good?

You know I have a long time, almost 20 years and free agency used to be great back in the day free agency used to be exciting you had guys like mogliny, Blake, Cujo, Belfour, Amonte, Geruin Roberts and more hit free agency regularly. Even as recent as 2009 you had Gaborik, Gionta, Cammerlli and others

and that doesn't even mention 2006 which had the likes of Chara and Savard.

But since about 2010 free agency has sucked I think we have to bring some excitement back into free agency because it used to be a day fans looked forward to now it's nearly pointless.

That needs to be fixed but how?

 

[izzy]

2012 was alright. Nothing can be done except not moving the cap.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

2012 was alright. Nothing can be done except not moving the cap.

2012 was pretty good but still free agency has lost A LOT of lustre in recent years and I think it needs to be fixed

 

[CornKicker]

all the free agents should show up to one place and turn it into an auction.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

What do you mean 'fixed'? Like more entertaining? That's not the point of free agency.

 

[tucker3434]

The NHL is making it easier for teams to retain players. It's a good thing for small market teams to have an easier time re-signing the stars, but obviously everybody else is going to take advantage of the same rules. I don't know what you can do that wouldn't hurt the small market teams that the NHL wants so badly to succeed.

 

[BruinsBtn]

The cap will flatten out and that will do it.

 

[Seb]

There was a thread about it a few days ago : http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1818457

You might be interested in the answers from this thread.

 

[varsaku]

Today more players who know they are not going to resign with their teams gets moved on trade deadline to team that more likely trying to sign them. So fewer players make it to free agency.

 

[varsaku]

max length contracts: 5 years with current team, 4 years with a new team.

Thats actually not a bad idea. That will give star players a reason to test free agency so they can try and hit the jackpot than sign a long term contract to get that kind of money.

 

[The Nuge]

If you kill RFA status, might as well say goodbye to teams like Arizona, Ottawa, Edmonton, Florida and even Buffalo who pretty much all depend on their rfas right now.

Edmonton wouldn't go under. You could ice 18 goons, and the building would be at full capacity

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Rules are being made to allow teams to keep their players. So, it's heading the other way.

That's the problem

 

[spiny norman]

There was a thread about it a few days ago : http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1818457

You might be interested in the answers from this thread.

The threads have been merged.

 

[ecemleafs]

That's the problem

how on earth is that a problem?

 

[RedWingsForPresident]

If you got rid of RFA's, the draft would almost become pointless. You might as well just do a junior/college hockey free agency instead of a draft, 90% of team's RFA's would just move constantly. Not a fan of it

 

[Raspewtin]

The FA Market will never be interesting as long as there's a salary cap.

 

[deckercky]

I'd like to see the UFA age lowered to 25, but that's just IMO. I really want compensation for high paid players to be a thing. For example, if you lose a player that gets paid $7.5 million per season, you get a 1st after pick 30 as compensation for the next year. I'd do it:

$7.5 million and above: Compensation of a 1st
$5-$7.5 million: Compensation of a 2nd
$4-$5 million: Compensation of a 3rd
Below $4 million: No compensation

The picks would be at the end of rounds and in the next draft year. For example, using the Pens, they lost Jokinen ($4 million), Orpik ($5.5 million) and Niskanen ($5.75 million) of notable salaries, so they would get 2 picks after the 2nd round and 1 pick after the 3rd round. Those picks shouldn't be tradeable either.

It'd be interesting to see RFA remain as is until 25, then make an 'in between' period of a few years where if the player signs with another team, the team that developed them gains picks in compensation depending on salary.

Allows more player mobility, but compensates teams who develop talent then lose it.

 

[Leafs87]

Maybe make it so teams only get rfa status twice or even once.

Not so that they are rfas until 26/27 thats way too long

Another thing should be buy outs that dont go against caps. I know poor teams will complain but they get enough

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Raise the damn salary cap, it's absurdly low.

Shocking that a Rangers fan would have this opinion.

 

[Offtheboard412]

I wouldn't mind seeing the rfa age lowered to 24 or 25. I feel that teams end up overpaying on high end forwards who are usually leaving their peak years by the time they hit ufa.

 

[Brooklanders*]

Since my Isles draft well I like free agency just the way it is.