Information

Ok the way this will work will be that once the league is ready to be activated I will email out to all GM's the player ratings list. This will give you all the information you need to build your team. I will then set a date and time for the fantasy draft, this may take place over multiple days due to the number of players that need to be selected.

In order to participate in the draft you will need to sign in to MSN at the required time. About 10 mins before the draft is set to start I will set up 2 group chats within MSN, one window will be for GM's to make their picks and the other will be for general chat. This is essential to ensure the selections are not lost amid all the conversation that goes on.

The draft will give each GM 3-5 mins (to be decided) in which to make their selection. To make a selection you simply post in the draft window 'Team name selects Player name'. There will be a 5 min break at the end of each round to allow me time to update the selections on the forum. This will ensure you have something to reference so you know which players are taken. For those of you not familiar you can use the search function on your browser to search for the name of a player to see if they have been selected, if you are unsure then simply ask in the chat window.

Upon completion of the draft there will be a couple of days while I load the data into the simulator and I will then post the upcoming schedule. The draft order will be selected at random by the simulator.

Any questions about the draft, feel free to ask here.

Apologies for not having pointed this out before but following the fantasy draft we will need to carry out a prospect draft. The length of this draft is to be determined but I will update you on that shortly. This draft will include the rookies that have now seen NHL action but do not exist on the player list I sent out the other day.

Right, I'm not afraid to ask the stupid questions. This drafting business...how many rounds will it have? How many players am I going to end up with on my books?

Sorry, just starting to try and get my head around all this.

23 rounds, giving you 23 players. This could take a while.....

Hey, cheers, Leafy. Where did you get that figure from?

I'm assuming one player per round, and we need 23 players (three scoring lines, one checking line (three forwards only) two goaltenders and three scratched players)

Sorry I forgot to put that in Ronnie. Leafy is absolutely right, it is a full 23 man roster. It may take some time for the draft and I am expecting us to need the 22nd as well as the 21st to complete the draft but I will see how it goes on Wednesday and see what people are thinking when the time comes.

There will effectively be 2 options depending on how much we can get done. We could roll over to the 22nd or the draft could be carried on through the forum however that option can take some time.

Like I said, we will discuss that to get an idea of how people feel after completing a few rounds on Wednesday. Ideally I would like to get 10 rounds done at least on the first day.

Ah, ok...23 - the number of a full NHL roster then. Makes sense; although the cap is going to be awkward when doing the draft.

What about free agents though? There isn't going to be any space for them?

homer how long are the rounds going to take. i.e. how long does each gm have to select?

I am intending to give you a maximum of 3 mins to make the selection and will take a 5 min break at the end of each round so I can catch up with putting them into the simulator!

Hey, Homer - do you have a link to a website that has the players' salary details? And can you confirm that the figures on NHL 10 match the real life ones?

Touching upon what ronnie was asking, I've been using capgeek.com to work out salary cap, but what about the players not on capgeek? Not that I'm thinking about a line of Fedorov and Jagr you understand. No. Not me.

We will be using www.capgeek.com and I wouldn't go on NHL 10 as they are not always up to date. As for the players not listed with an NHL contract then you will need to sign them before the season starts by submitting an offer once the draft is offer as per the normal free agent rules.

One last question (probably last!) - Can you play a player out of position? I'm not planning using Komisarek as a playmaking centre (well maybe), but possibly using two centres on a powerplay line. Or is this something the program won't allow?

Yes, Homer - you're right. NHL 10 doesn't seem to take into consideration bonuses which obviously affect the cap hit. Darn, I knew Bobby Ryan's contract was too good to be true!

What are you going to do if a GM miscalculates and goes over the cap?

I guess he would have to send a player to the minors and risk losing him to waivers.

Yes you can play players out of position however there are penalties to their stats when that is done so only do so when it is necessary. If a player is listed in a certain position but actually plays another in real life I believe it can be changed but I will need to double check that.

Ronnie, the cap will be in force from the official start of the season which I will decide on the date once the draft has been completed. This will allow for GM's to go over the cap and fix it if need be. I will leave it at least a few days in order for GM's to do this.

Excellent, Komisarek first line centre then! I'll beat you all mwahahahah!