Rules

RESIGNING TABLE

			500k-900k	1.0-1.9 mil	2.0-2.9 mil	3.0-3.9 mil	4.0-5.9 mil	6.0+ mil
FORWARDS	DEFENCEMEN	GOALIES
0-29	0-19	3.00+	30%	15%	10%	5%	5%	5%
30-49	20-39	2.70-2.99	50%	25%	15%	10%	5%	5%
50-69	40-49	2.30-2.69	100%	50%	25%	15%	10%	10%
70-89	50-59	2.00-2.29	150%	80%	45%	30%	20%	15%
90+	60+	under 2.00	230%	120%	70%	50%	35%	20%

LEAGUE OVERVIEW

Fees per year are $100.

STRUCTURE & FORMAT

The SFHL is a points-based, Head-to-Head fantasy hockey league consisting of 12 teams. The Head-to-Head format allows team owners to compete against each other 1-on-1 over a period of time (called a “game”) using a number of different hockey statistical categories. Each team earns “fantasy points” over this period of time based on its performance in these statistical categories. The goal is to accumulate the most “fantasy points” possible over the period and outscore your opponent.

The winner of each game is determined by whichever team accumulates more fantasy points over the period. Each team receives a win, loss or tie in the standings accordingly. Each win is worth 2 points in the standings and each tie is worth 1 point. Each SFHL team plays 82 games in accordance with the SFHL Regular-Season Schedule. Each game is typically 3 or 4 days in length and typically runs Monday-Wednesday or Thursday-Sunday except under special circumstances where games may run only 1 or 2 days in length. Over the course of the SFHL Regular Season each SFHL team typically plays 2 games at one time against 2 different opponents except under special circumstances where a team may only play 1 game at a time.

PLAYOFFS

The top 8 teams in the standings at the end of the regular season advance to the SFHL Playoffs where they are seeded from #1 to #8. In the first round of the playoffs the #1 seed plays the #8 seed, the #2 seed plays the #7 seed, the #3 seed plays the #6 seed and the #4 seed plays the #5 seed. All playoff matchups are best-of-7 series and are played in accordance with the SFHL Playoff Schedule. SFHL Playoff games are typically 2 days in length except under special circumstances where games may run either 1 or 3 days in length.

The four first-round winners are reseeded according to the regular season standings. In the semi-finals the #1 seed plays the #4 seed while the #2 seed faces the #3 seed. The winners of these two series face each other in the SFHL Final to determine the SFHL Champion.

In the event that 2 or more teams finish the regular season with the same number of points in the standings the following tiebreakers are used:

number of wins
most fantasy points scored
head-to-head record

FINANCES

PLAYER CONTRACTS & SALARIES

The SFHL is a salary-based and contract-based fantasy hockey league. Every player in the SFHL must be signed to a contract that pays him an annual salary. A player can be signed to a 1-year, 2-year or 3-year contract.

A player’s salary remains level throughout the duration of his contract and is determined by the means in which he is acquired:

A player acquired through the SFHL Draft with less than 40 games of NHL experience (regular season and playoffs combined) is considered a SFHL rookie and his SFHL salary is automatically set to $900,000 per season if he is a SFHL first-round pick and automatically set to $700,000 per season if he is a SFHL second-round pick.

Note: SFHL rookies have their contracts automatically set to a contract length of 3 years (“entry-level”)

A player acquired through the SFHL Draft with 40 or more games of NHL experience (regular season and playoffs combined) OR with 5 or more playoff games of NHL experience is not consider a SFHL Rookie and therefore his SFHL salary is determined by his actual NHL cap-hit as published by the website capfriendly.com
A player acquired through free agency (SFHL Auction or Nominations) has his SFHL salary determined by the highest offer he receives in the bidding.
A player resigned by a SFHL team as a free agent has his SFHL salary determined by the applicable entry in the SFHL Resigning Table.
A player won in the auction (or nominations) can not have his contract bought out until the first pay period has passed.
A UFA traded during the previous season can only be re-signed by the acquiring team. His UFA rights may still be traded (or bought back) but he must still go to auction.

REVENUE AND PAYROLL

Each SFHL pro team earns 41 million dollars annually in revenue to spend on player salaries. Meanwhile, each farm team earns 9 million dollars annually in revenue to spend on player salaries. SFHL players are paid twice monthly (on the 15^th and on the last day) during the months of October to February for a total of 10 paydays. Seven of the paydays occur before the trading deadline and 3 occur afterwards. On each payday each SFHL pro team receives 1/10 of its annual revenue ($4,100,000) and pays out 1/10 of its current payroll. Meanwhile, each farm team receives 1/10 of its annual revenue ($900,000) and pays out 1/10 of its current payroll. All players that are on a SFHL pro roster are paid by the pro team while any player on a farm roster is paid by the farm team.

BANK ACCOUNT

Each SFHL pro team has a bank account (cash). On a payday, if a pro team’s revenue exceeds its payroll then the excess amount is credited to the pro team’s bank account. On the other hand, if the pro team’s payroll exceeds its revenue then the difference is deducted from the team’s bank account.

A farm team does not have a bank account and thus if its revenue exceeds its payroll on a payday then the excess amount is lost and is credited to neither the pro team nor the farm team. However, if the farm team’s payroll exceeds its revenue on a payday then the difference is deducted from the pro team’s bank account.

The amount of cash in a team’s bank account can be used to finance future payroll and it also can be traded as well as an asset. Cash amounts in the bank account are carried over from season to season. The maximum amount of cash that a SFHL team can have in its account is 10 million dollars.

PAYROLL RESTRICTIONS

Salary Cap – 48 million (raised to 50 million during the SFHL Playoffs)

Salary Floor – 34 million

A SFHL pro team’s payroll must at all times be at or below 48 million dollars (50 million during the SFHL Playoffs). Although the pro team only receives 41 million dollars per season in revenue it can still finance a payroll higher than 41 million by way of cash in its bank account if it has the necessary funds.

A SFHL pro team’s payroll does not necessarily need to be at or above the 34 million dollar salary floor but there are no benefits in being below this number since the payday calculations are done using a minimum amount of 34 million dollars. The salary floor ensures that the maximum amount of cash that a SFHL team can earn in a single pay period is $700,000 and the maximum amount of cash that can be earned in a season is $7,000,000.

There are no minimum nor maximum payroll restrictions for the farm team as long as the pro team can pay for any excess amount of farm payroll over farm revenue.

ROSTER MANAGEMENT

COMPOSITION

Each SFHL franchise is made up of an SFHL pro team and an AHL minor-league team (farm team). The number of players on the pro team must be 23 at all times during the regular season and no more than 28 players during the SFHL Playoffs. There are no restrictions on the number of players that can be on the farm team.

WAIVERS

A player sent down to a farm team must first pass through waivers. The only players who are not required to pass through waivers are skaters with less than 160 NHL games played (regular season and playoffs combined) and goalies with less than 80 NHL games played (regular season and playoffs combined).

When a player is required to clear waivers he is placed on the waiver wire where other SFHL teams have 48 hours to put a claim in for him. If more than one team puts in a claim for a player he is awarded to the team lower in the standings. There is no compensation awarded to a team that loses a player through waivers.

An SFHL team may also voluntarily place any player (pro team or farm team) on waivers for the purpose of intentionally losing the player and/or his salary to another team. In this case, the player does not necessarily have to be sent down from a pro team to a farm team.

Once a team claims a player off waivers they are responsible for the remainder of his contract and must place the player on their pro roster.

If there are multiple players on waivers at the same time and a SFHL team wants to put in multiple claims they must indicate their first priority, second priority etc.

TRADING

SFHL teams may trade players, draft picks or cash at any time during the year except for the period of time between the trading deadline and the end of the SFHL Playoffs.

When a player is traded his contract (annual salary and remaining length) remains fully intact and the player’s new team is responsible for the remainder of the contract. When a trade is finalized between the teams involved it must be reported immediately to the commissioner’s office.

Once a trade is announced by the commissioner there is a 48-hour window for other team owners to dispute the trade. If a trade is disputed within this 48-hour period (with a valid written reason to the commissioner) the trade will be subject to vote on by all the owners not involved in the trade. If the trade receives simple majority based on the votes received it will be processed. However, if the trade does not receive simple majority based on the votes received it will be considered vetoed.

Each owner has the equivalent of 1 vote into the outcome. If there is a tie the commissioner casts the deciding vote.

Note: Trading for future 2nd round draft picks is prohibited until the draft order for those draft picks is determined.

RELEASING A PLAYER

A SFHL team may release any player at any time but must buy out 50% of the player’s remaining contract. All players released during the season become free agents and are eligible for the following season’s draft and auction. If a player retires from the NHL, leaves the NHL to go play overseas or is a NHL free agent with time remaining on his SFHL contract the team is not responsible for any of his remaining contract unless the player re-enters the NHL.

INJURED RESERVE

A SFHL team may place a pro team player on injured reserve (IR) if the player is expected to be sidelined for a significant amount of time longer than day-to-day. A player that is placed on IR must remain there for a minimum of 15 days and a player has to be recalled from the farm team to maintain the mandatory 23-man roster. After the minimum 15 days have expired the player must be reactivated to the pro team as soon as he returns playing. A reminder notice will be sent by the commissioner if a team does not reactivate the player on time. Once the player is reactivated a player must be sent down to the farm to again maintain the 23-man roster limit. The player being sent down to make room is subject to all waiver rules as they apply to him.

Note: Farm team players may not be placed on injured reserve.

A player does not have to be paid his full salary while he is on injured reserve. The amount of salary that a team is responsible for depends on the player’s salary as follows:

Injured Player’s Salary Salary Obligation

Less than 2 million none

2 million and above 50%

FREE AGENCY

When a player’s contract expires he automatically becomes either a restricted free agent (RFA) or an unrestricted free agent (UFA). His age when his contract expires determines which type of free agent he becomes.

RESTRICTED FREE AGENCY

If a player is 26 years of age or less when his contract expires he becomes a restricted free agent (RFA). A restricted free agent may be resigned by the player’s current team in accordance with the SFHL Resigning Table. A player can be resigned to either a 1, 2 or 3 year contract and he receives a salary increase according to the table. If the RFA is not resigned by the player’s team he becomes an unrestricted free agent (UFA). An RFA can not be resigned to a contract that takes him beyond 27 years of age (unless an exemption is used – see “Exemptions” below)

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENCY

If a player is 27 years of age or older when his contract expires he becomes an unrestricted free agent (UFA). Typically, an unrestricted free agency is no longer the property of his current team (unless an exemption is used – see “Exemptions” below)

EXEMPTIONS

As stated above an RFA can not typically be resigned to a contract beyond 27 years of age and a UFA can not be resigned at all. However, each SFHL team is awarded 2 exemptions each summer in order to resign RFAs past the age of 27 and/or resign UFAs. If an SFHL team doesn’t use an exemption awarded to it then it carries over to the following season. However, no more than 1 unused exemption can be carried over from one season to the next. The limit on the number of exemptions that an SFHL team can use in one season is 3.

Note: Exemptions can not be traded to another SFHL team.

UFA AUCTION

All players that become unrestricted free agents (UFAs) automatically go into the UFA auction to give other SFHL teams an opportunity to bid on them. The team with the highest bid on a player will win that player. The minimum bid for each player is $500,000 with the minimum increment being $100,000. A SFHL team can not retract any bid that is makes and no bids are accepted after the auctioneer has announced that a player has been sold. The UFA’s former team has the right to match the highest offer and retain the player.

UFA NOMINATIONS

Players not on a SFHL roster and who either have 40 or more games of NHL experience (regular season and playoffs combined) or 5 games of NHL playoff experience are classified as UFAs and are eligible to be signed in free agency. SFHL teams may nominate these players for bidding in the nomination portion of the UFA auction. Similar to the UFA Auction the minimum bid in the nomination portion is $500,000 and the minimum increment is $100,000. The order of nomination follows the previous season’s regular-season standings.

Note: For goalies, the thresholds are 20 games played (regular season and playoffs combined) or 5 games of NHL playoff experience

Note: A player acquired in the nomination portion of the auction can be signed to a contract of any length without the use of an exemption.

ENTRY DRAFT

Each season an entry draft is held to bring new players into the SFHL. The entry draft consists of one full round and a partial second round comprised of the 4 non-playoff teams. Any player drafted by an NHL team and not appearing on a SFHL roster is eligible to be selected in an entry draft. The order of selection for both rounds of a SFHL entry draft is determined by reverse order of the previous season’s standings except for the first 4 picks of the draft which are determined by a weighted draft lottery outlined below.

In general, teams may only trade draft picks for the next 2 upcoming entry drafts. However, when the trading window re-opens at the end of the SFHL Playoffs (April) trading for draft picks is widened to include another draft and therefore from April to September there is a period where teams may trade picks for the next 3 upcoming entry drafts.

During SFHL Season: draft pick trading for next 2 drafts

During SFHL Off-season: draft pick trading for next 3 drafts

DRAFT LOTTERY

A weighted Draft lottery is held in the off-season to determine the top 4 drafting positions in next year’s draft. The lottery involves the 4 non-playoff teams that finished 9th-12th in the standings.

The lottery is conducted as follows:

There will be 13 balls placed into a container from which they will randomly be drawn.
The 12th place team will received 1 ball, the 11th place team will receive 2 balls, the 10th place team will receive 3 balls and the 9th place team will receive 7 balls.
The first ball drawn will determine the 4th overall pick. The second ball drawn will determine the 3rd overall pick. The third ball drawn will determine the 2nd and 1st overall picks.
Should the ball of a team be drawn that has already had its pick determined, that ball will be discarded and the lottery will continue.

GAME PLAY

STARTING LINEUP

In a SFHL game a team’s starting lineup goes “head-to-head” against the starting lineup of another SFHL team. Each starting lineup consists of the following:

4 CENTERS

6 WINGERS

4 DEFENCEMEN

1 GOALIE

Each of the 10 starting forwards must be allotted into one of the following categories:

1 Superstar

2 Snipers

6 Points

1 “Rover” (Points or Assists)

Each of the 4 starting defencemen must be allotted into one of the following categories:

1 Superstar

3 Points

A player may only be used at the position that is listed on the SFHL Rosters webpage.
A player listed as a forward (F) may be used as a center or as a winger.
Substitutions are not made for players who do not play due to injury, illness, suspension or healthy scratch.
Lineup deadline on Fantrax for each player is 1 minute before the start of his first scheduled game in the scoring period.

SCORING

A SFHL starting lineup earns fantasy points depending on the category that each player was placed into.

The fantasy point distribution is as follows:

	Abbr.	Goals	Assists	GAA

Superstar	SKT	2	1	-
Sniper	PP	2	0	-
Points	C / W / D	1	1	-
Assists	ENF	0	1 + bonus	-
Goalies	G/G2	0	0	-1

Superstar (Fantrax – SKT) a player placed in the Superstar category is awarded 2 fantasy points for each goal and 1 fantasy point for each assist

Sniper (Fantrax – PP): a player placed in the Sniper category is awarded 2 fantasy points for each goal (no credit for assists)

Points (Fantrax – C or W or D): a player placed in the Points category is awarded 1 fantasy point for each goal and 1 fantasy point for each assist

Assists (Fantrax – ENF): a forward placed in the Assists category is awarded 1 fantasy point for each assist and an additional bonus point for every 2 assists

Goalies (Fantrax - G): Any team that does not have any goalie at all in a game will receive the automatic default amount of -6 for regular season and -5 for playoff games. Also, if a team does not completely fill the required 60 minutes from its group of goalies the remaining minutes needed will be calculated using a GAA of 6.00 for regular season and 5.00 for playoffs.

Note: In the event that a playoff game ends in a tie the following tiebreakers are used:

number of goals from 2 snipers and 2 superstars
most fantasy points excluding goaltender
higher-seeded team wins

TANKING

If a GM is deemed to have tanked their season, then there will be two warnings given and then a punishment of automatically getting the 4th overall odds.

Tanking examples include:

Examples that will be punished:
1. Deliberately benching players to put in players not currently playing
2. Deliberately putting in injured players on long term injuries, when non-injured players are available
Examples of moves that won't be punished:
1. Starting injured players when they're "day to day" or legitimately expected back soon, even if they don't play
2. Trading away players resulting in an AHL lineup
3. Not adjusting a lineup when life interferes, vacations, etc - because we've all been there