1. The League operates on the Simon T Hockey Simulator, using Sim Engine 1.5.
2. The League website is https://brhl.bestrunsports.com/.
3. The League is a cash league.
   1. See the Payouts section for detailed information.
4. We have 3 full-time positions that get a salary each year, and the rest are delegated out.
   1. Bryce Shuck (Ratings / Dictator) – 12m
   2. Eric Dolegowski (Commissioner / Overlord) – 12m
   3. Ty Shedden (Website Admin) – 8m
   4. RFA Coordinator – 5m
   5. Awards Coordinator – 3m
   6. Database entry arises throughout the season, particularly in April and May. There are millions to be made for helping do the work.

1. It is understood by all GMs before joining that this is a competitive environment, and non-personal trash talk is highly encouraged.
   1. Due to an ultra-competitive atmosphere, there will be times when things fall in the grey areas. At those times, the commissioner’s office will consult with the necessary parties if deemed necessary, but ultimately, the commissioners have the authority to make immediate and non-disputable decisions.
   2. Don’t be a twit. No one is out to get you.
   3. Any attempt to circumvent the SPIRIT of the rules and fair play will result in disciplinary action handed out by the commissioner’s office, which may include fines, penalties, or termination.

1. Activity is required; posts are expected to announce when you are away for extended periods. Plans are to be made if you are away to watch your rosters, etc.
2. Being on Slack is a REQUIREMENT. 90% of league goings on happen there. You are expected to always monitor and be active on Slack.
   1. Given we’re like a big family, the Slack conversations largely aren’t censored, and they touch on all subjects. If you’re easily offended, this probably isn’t the group for you.

1. The commissioner’s office has final say on all matters; we have built up over 30 years of sim hockey experience as commissioners. We know how to run things and have proven that our leagues are here for the long haul. GMs are to act and plan accordingly.
2. This is not a democracy.

1. All teams must have at least 8 listed centers, 8 listed left-wingers, 8 listed right-wingers, 12 listed defensemen, and 4 listed goaltenders for the league to function (full farm).
2. Teams must dress full farm rosters; if not, default players will be created, and cost your team 750k per season. They will also have a 1 million signing bonus that comes right out of your cash when they are created.
3. Players may not be sent down to play in minor league playoffs if they haven’t played in the minors during the year (the “Richard Rule”).
   1. Teams will be fined 500k per violation, and their top scorer(s) will be suspended 2 games per violation.

1. A backup goaltender must play a minimum of 800 minutes. This is to ensure that all teams do not abuse the privilege of having a superstar goaltender paired with a minimalist backup goaltender. It has occurred in other leagues that GMs abuse the salary cap by paying to have a star goaltender and then paying league minimums for a poorly rated backup goalie that does not play any minutes. It is unrealistic that a goalie would start every game in an 82-game schedule, and to ensure all teams share their duties, this rule is in place. With the 800-minute rule, a backup goalie would be required to start a minimum of approximately ten (10) games; even fewer if he gathers minutes if the starter is hooked midway during any game.
2. If need be, the commissioners have the authorization to sit a starting goalie near the end of a season if they are on pace to fail on achieving their backup goalie minutes.
3. An explicit warning will be given before the season ending; failure to get in your backup goalie minutes will result in the loss of your earliest 3rd round pick.
4. Minutes of a goalie that has been traded will be accounted to the team at which his minutes were played.
   1. Example: Johan Hedberg plays 404 backup minutes with the Stars. He is traded to the Kings. His 404 minutes of backup minutes would remain with the Stars, and they would only need 196 more minutes to comply.

1. 2026-27: Maximum of 75 players. Any team with more during the off-season will only be able to sign Free Agents making $1,500,000 or more.
2. 2027-28 and future years: Maximum of 60 players. Any team with more during the off-season will only be able to sign Free Agents making $1,500,000 or more.
   1. 54 Skaters.
   2. 6 Goalies.

1. If your lines aren’t submitted, the game will auto your lines. You’re responsible for the results.
2. Pro roster size maximum is 23 players. The game will not allow you to have more than 23 guys on the pro roster, unless some are suspended (IR) or hurt.

1. A general manager may double shift any ONE forward on the fourth line; double shifting a forward on any combination of lines one, two, and three will default that team’s lines to ‘AUTO’ for that day’s games. Furthermore, a team cannot double shift any more than one forward; this prevents teams with top-heavy talent-laden lines from abusing the spirit of league parity and fairness.
2. It is recognized and understood that a team will double shift at least two defensemen on the fourth line. And further that a team may dress more than six defensemen and have the seventh simply play the 4th line shift.
3. In addition, six separate defensemen are to occupy the top three pairings. Double shifting of a defenseman on the 1st and 2nd, 1st and 3rd, or 2nd and 3rd pairings is considered illegal. The 4th pairing is the only spot where a defenseman can be listed as a part of two pairings.

1. A player CANNOT switch positions unless they are listed there according to CapWages or TSN.ca. No exceptions. Submit a position change request via the change form.
   1. The commissioners will continue to evaluate the best resource for positions. Changes will be made when they are needed.

1. You may NOT play a player out of position on the even-strength lines unless he is listed at that position on your roster.
2. Special teams, you may coordinate your lines as you please.
3. When doing lines, in the STRATEGY tab of the sim, you must have at least 1 selected for both offense and defense. Any variations on top of those are alright. For individual units (line 1, d line 1, etc.), you must have at least 1 selected in offense and defense as well.
4. The STHS tracks things like line loads, transactions, etc. Things like sending in lines are mandatory and need to be done on a semi-regular basis.
5. Effective 2016, the sim allows you to upload straight from your CPU to the file, so there’s no need to do anything after you hit save in your lines, other than click yes.
6. All lines and trades are processed before that night’s simulation. When sending in text lines, make sure to be very detailed.
7. Scratching your best players to tank is illegal. We won’t control where they play, but they need to be dressed and on a line. Blatant failure to comply will result in a 1 million fine and will increase by the same interval. GMs are encouraged to let the league know if they see this happening (the “Billy Rule”).

League’s Current Cap: $95.5 million for 2026-27, $104 million for 2027-28, $113.5 million for 2028-29.
Minimum Salary: $750k

1. The salary cap will change along with the NHL cap. Since we run 1 year behind the NHL, we always know a year ahead of time what the next cap figure will be.
2. If a GM makes a trade that puts his team in violation of this limit, the GM must work his roster through more trades, line juggling, waivers, or buyouts to get back under the ceiling by that team's next games. Remember that trades are processed BEFORE games that night. You may send in detailed new lines or instructions to ensure you’re cap compliant.
3. Punishment for the violation of the salary cap will be the league releasing/waiving players as they deem fit to get the cap to where it matches. These decisions are final and will NOT be reversed.
4. If a player is released during the season for a cap violation and is of RFA age, the minimum contract length he will accept is a 3-year deal.

1. Should you not be in the black by season's end, you will have 1 week to get there via trade. Otherwise, one of the following will occur:
   1. Auctioning draft picks by commissioners.
   2. Auctioning players by commissioners.
   3. Removal from the league.
   4. If your team is in the red, you can purchase 1 million for $5. This is only available if a team needs to get into the black; once you are back to even, you cannot purchase any more cash.
2. New GMs have their cash balance reset to 15m when they take over.

1. The salary cap is defined as the pro payroll plus Special Salary Cap Value (retained cap hits).
2. We use a complex calculation based on salary average: fixed value.
   1. What that means is your cap hit is calculated on a game-by-game basis. If you have a pro salary + retained salary of 41 million, you are charged 500k per game (41/82).
   2. This will allow teams more room to bring on more salaries near the deadline, as significant portions have been paid on their contract.
   3. The finances page on the index does a great job of showing what has been paid, and what projections are.

1. It is advised to all teams to seek out ways to add BRHL funds to their bank accounts during the season.
   1. The easiest way is to trade with a richer team and include with the deal some BRHL cash.
   2. A second way to earn BRHL money is to write a front-page “quality” article. With the ease of writing articles on the new website, the league will periodically award cash to teams for in-depth articles.
      1. Articles written only with A.I. earn $0.
   3. Another way is to hit the commissioners up and see what work needs to be done, especially come offseason time — we routinely pay out millions of BRHL for tasks that need to be done.

1. Sponsorships are offered but not required. They will only be paid out during each pre-season. (Sponsorship form)

1. Trades are made between two or three GMs involving Players, Draft Picks, Prospects, BRHL Funds, and Players on the teams’ ineligible list and/or Future Considerations. No other form of value can be traded.
2. Players may NOT be traded back to a team they were on that season. If Boston trades Player X to Edmonton, the Oilers may not trade him back to Boston. If he gets traded from Edmonton to Colorado, he still may not be traded back to Boston until the next season.
3. Trades are not official until confirmed by both sides on the BRHL site.

1. You may not trade picks for future drafts unless you’ve paid for that year. A team will have (e.g.) 2023 picks on their prospect list if they can trade those picks (index).

1. Future Considerations must be descriptive to the league and must also be approved by the league.
2. RENTALS ARE NOT ALLOWED. ANY AGREEMENT TO TRADE A PLAYER BACK TO A TEAM IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN.

1. Trades are subject to being reviewed by the commissioners’ office and potentially rejected due to imbalance. This is not a normal occurrence, as teams are generally left to run their team as they see fit.
2. Trading will be monitored to avoid cheating.

1. You cannot trade a UFA’s rights after the end of the season (before FA).
2. Recently signed UFA’s over 1.5 base salary will have an NTC until after the first game of the regular season.
3. UFA’s making more than 7m cannot be traded if they only signed a 1-year contract.
4. Trading recently signed UFA's cannot be done before certain time periods without penalty — see the penalty schedule under Unrestricted Free Agents § Penalties for Trading Signed UFAs (13.3). Note: this is based on the contract BEFORE retention. If you sign a guy to trade him and scratch him until you can trade him, his NTC will become valid for the entire season.

1. Teams can retain salary cap hit in deals with other GMs; teams may retain part of a traded player's salary to ease the cap burden on the acquiring team.
2. The maximum value of the salary cap that can be covered is 50% in any year.
3. Once traded, any amount covered by the team retaining is added to their Special Salary Cap Value on their finances. This DOES count against the cap for the retaining team.
   1. The player would have his cap hit in the applicable years reduced by the corresponding value.
   2. It is possible to retain cap hit for less than the full deal. If you have a 4-year deal being moved, you can (if you choose) only retain for 1 of those 4 years (again, max of 50% for that year).
   3. Players may be traded, and have their contract retained by any number of teams.
      1. A player may NOT be traded to a team, and then traded back to the original team, with part of the cap hit retained.
   4. Retained salary by the trading team cannot accumulate amongst their 3 allowable contracts to be more than 15 percent of the upper salary cap limit.
   5. A maximum of 3 such contracts with salary retained in a trade can be on a team's books at any one time.
   6. You CANNOT retain a contract for more years than you have paid ahead.
      1. If your prospect list doesn’t show you having access to that year’s picks, you don’t have access to retain in those years either.
   7. When retaining a salary, you still must PAY that salary. The balance owed at the time of trade will be deducted from your cash on hand.
      1. To identify the amount being retained, the player’s remaining salary (players are paid 1/82 of their salary each game) will be figured out per the agreed-upon trade.
      2. To represent the amount being paid to the player, the salary retained is immediately removed from the funds of the team retaining.
      3. To represent the amount being covered by the retaining team on their Pro Players' Salaries amount, the retained salary is added to the team’s Salary Cap Special Value.
      4. Players will have their base contract amount changed to reflect the amount that is being retained.
         1. A player’s contract having 50% retained from a $1,800,000 contract would now show that player’s contract amount as $900,000.
      5. When the offseason rolls over, your retentions for the upcoming year are taken out of your cash balance.
4. Retentions can be viewed here.

1. All players without ratings will be added back to your prospects list. If you would like to have a player removed permanently, you can DM the Commissioners on Slack. These players are eligible to be traded. Once a player is asked to be removed from your list, he is no longer your property. We have done away with the Euro list.

1. Injured players will not receive ratings unless they play at least 10 NHL/AHL games in a season. If they don’t meet these requirements, they will be placed on your prospect list.
2. Injured goalies get ratings if they play a single game. We rate all goalies to ensure teams can meet requirements.
3. There can and have been special circumstances to which the commissioners will make their best decision before a player is rated.

1. Upon return, injured players are treated like an RFA if they’re older than the RFA cutoff; put 28 as their age into the calculator.

1. Buyouts are based on the years left and the amount the player makes per year. Buyouts are paid for via cash on hand. No cap space is lost buying out a player.
   1. 1 year – 75%
   2. 2 years – 60%
   3. 3 years – 50%
   4. 4 years – 50%
   5. 5 years – 50%
      1. For example, a player with 3 years left, and a salary of $3,700,000:
         1. 3,700,000 × .75 = 2,750,000
         2. 3,700,000 × .60 = 2,220,000
         3. 3,700,000 × .50 = 1,850,000
         4. 2,750,000 + 2,220,000 + 1,850,000 = 6,820,000

1. Buyout windows are always open, with the exception that you may NOT buyout a player during UFA in the off-season or roster freezes, so make sure that you have made all the necessary adjustments for your team before that time.

1. All players who have played at least 10 games in the NHL or AHL in the previous season will be placed on active rosters and will not count as prospects, despite when they are drafted.
2. With new ratings every year, rookie status can get skewed. We will try to fix as many as possible.

1. Players will lose their rookie status when they:
   1. Play more than 15 BRHL games.
   2. Turn 24 in the sim (except if it’s their first time being created).

1. All ELC contracts are input by Eric D and Eric F when a player is created. These are done to reflect the value over the 3-year ELC. If you want to dispute a contract, let Eric know.
   1. If a player is not AHL eligible because he played nothing but NHL as a rookie, his minimum contract will be 1.5 million, forcing him to play pro.
      1. Except for players deemed exempt — usually, late signing collegiates who play just enough games to get rated, but don’t play any AHL games.
   2. If a player is 26, his ELC will be 2 years.
   3. If a player is 27, his ELC will be 1 year.
   4. If a player is 28 or older, he will get a 1-year ELC, and then the GM can tack an RFA contract onto the end of that 1-year deal.
2. Contract structures – please note these are intended and are ultimately subject to Commissioner determination. Also, these are subject to increase along with the BRHL Salary Cap and Minimum BRHL Player Salary.
   1. 1st Round / ELITE / Commissioner determination: $1,500,000 to $2,250,000
   2. 1st Round 1-10 overall: $1,250,000
   3. 1st Round 11-32 overall: $975,000
   4. 2nd Round: $900,000
   5. 3rd Round: $800,000
   6. 4th – 7th and Undrafted: $750,000

1. Players must be 23 or younger to be eligible for the Calder.

1. A player 23 and under can only go to the minors if they played in at least 5 AHL regular-season games in the corresponding NHL season. This is to prevent young stars like MacKinnon, McDavid, Ekblad, etc. being stashed on AHL teams when they are in the NHL.
2. Players can be removed from waivers after 1 day if a team so selects; this is all done in the sim program.
3. Teams can DM Commissioners requesting a player to be removed from waivers due to their roster being Auto-ed. The player will be removed from waivers, and any claims made will be voided.

1. All players 24 and older must clear waivers before being demoted (unless they are a rookie and created for the first time) either in the waiver draft at the beginning of the season or by going through waivers at another time.
2. Once a player has cleared waivers, he may move up and down freely until he has accumulated 10 games at the pro level. After that time, he must pass through waivers every time he is sent down.
3. Players on waivers are sent to the minors immediately and are eligible to play in the minors once they’ve cleared.
4. Players on waivers are exposed for 48 hours, at which time, if no team has claimed them, they can stay in the minors. If they are claimed, they change to their new team’s pro roster.
5. There is no monetary penalty for teams claiming a player from waivers or the waiver draft. There is no monetary compensation for teams losing a player to waivers or the waiver draft.

1. Players with a contract of 1.5 million or more may go to the farm, but they MUST clear waivers first. Even if they go to the minors, their full salary will be paid. However, during the UFA period, they must be in the pros, so their salary is reflected there.

1. We use the standard waiver system, where priority is first by standings, but when you make a claim, you drop to the bottom of the waiver list. This is due to the abuse of allowing bottom teams priority, which no longer serves the intent it was created with.
   1. Because this adds a manual portion to waivers, if a claim occurs that wouldn’t have occurred because the order wasn’t reset, DM the commissioners and the league office so it can get fixed.

1. When/if something arises that isn't clearly covered in the basic rules, the league office's ruling will be final.
2. Waiver Draft is done via Google Sheets with assigned time slots. It will be done over 2 or 3 days.
3. Waiver draft is 3 rounds long.
4. Individual teams may NOT lose more than 3 players to the waiver draft in normal circumstances.
   1. You will not be able to demote someone and not have them exposed. The only exempt players would be ones who were already demoted when you had your 3rd player claimed. Anyone demoted after would STILL be exposed for the duration of the draft.
5. Teams MUST be cap compliant at the end of the waiver draft.
6. Players 24 years old and older are all eligible to be claimed in the waiver draft unless they have received ratings for the first time. These players will be marked with a “Rookie” status and will not be eligible to be selected. Players making over 1.5 million will be eligible for the waiver draft, regardless of their age or rookie status. Players 23 years old and under will be eligible to be claimed if they have played over a quarter of the NHL season (21 games) and have played less than 5 AHL games.
7. Any players on the pro roster will have a force waiver tag added to them. They MUST clear waivers (the first time) should they be sent down at any time during the season.
8. Any players exposed in the last 15 picks in the third round will remain on waivers for 24 hours and can be claimed by other teams (avoids stashing a guy late and others not having a chance to grab him). Reverse standings from last year will be a priority. Once you select a player, you go to the bottom of the list.
9. If you select a player in the waiver draft, and you are over the 23-man pro roster limit, you must demote someone to stay in the 23-man roster limit.
10. Players who clear waivers during the waiver draft are then eligible to bounce up and down during the year, until they have played 10 pro games (except for the above guidelines, ALWAYS in effect).
11. Picking window is NOT enforced from 1 am EST to 9 am EST. You can still pick, but the clock doesn't start or stop within those periods.
12. If you plan on passing for the current round, or all rounds, please post so.
13. The last preseason sim will have EVERY player called to the pros, and full restrictions placed on guys going to the minors (except for 23 and younger guys who are ineligible for lack of AHL games). You will then set your 23-man roster and will be “waiving” all the players demoted to the minors (except for players 23 and under).
14. If you demote a player 23 and younger who is NOT eligible to be demoted (does not meet the minimum AHL games played of 5), then they will be available in the waiver draft. It is not the league office's job to police and manage your roster.

1. No healthy players can go on IR.
2. You may not designate players with DTD injuries to more than the 7-day IR.
3. In order to place someone on the IR, it will count immediately against your current finances. You may not place someone on the IR if you are below zero in finances.
4. You may not activate someone prior to them having completed their tenure on the IR.

1. If you have someone injured that you want to put on IR, you can pay a fee to do so. While on IR, their salary will not count against the cap.
2. There are 4 different lengths of time that a team can place a player on the IR. The player will remain on the IR for the whole duration of that time, at which point he may be activated or replaced on the IR. The following is the breakdown:
   1. 1 week (7 sim days) = $200,000
   2. 2 weeks (14 sim days) = $400,000
   3. 1 month (30 sim days) = $600,000
   4. 2 months (60 sim days) = $1,000,000
   5. Season (till the end of playoffs) = $2,000,000
3. DM the commissioners with the player, the length, and the amount it costs to place the player on IR.

1. Entry Draft classes will include players who were featured in the previous NHL Entry Draft.
2. Any player who is 21 or older as of July 1st when the BRHL Draft is held can be drafted, if their rights are not already owned by another team. In addition to players who have been drafted in the current draft class, and in prior years' drafts.
3. You cannot draft a 20-year-old or younger unless he has been drafted in one of the eligible draft classes, OR has signed with an NHL team before our draft.
4. There is no pre-published draft list of eligible players. GMs are required to do the work to build their draft lists.

1. Teams MUST have paid for the next season to deal picks away.
2. We do not permit betting on draft picks.

1. We mirror the NHL lottery. So, if you finished 7th worst in BRHL, you get the odds of the 7th worst in NHL.
   1. Our draft order gets set the night the NHL runs its lottery.
   2. The final 4 teams also get reranked based on playoff results. So the Cup champ picks 32nd, etc.
      1. This affects ALL rounds.
2. Draft lotto results only apply to round 1. Other rounds run in reverse standings.

1. BRHL Drafts are done LIVE in some combination of Slack, Zoom, or other programs. An Excel sheet is published to track things.
2. Typically, the draft is done in 2 nights: Rounds 1-3 the first night, Rounds 4-7 the second.

1. Restricted Free Agents (RFA) are those players who are 27 years of age or under (27 with 1 year left if during the season). During the season, when a player will be a pending RFA, the owning team is not required to offer that player a contract if they do not wish; they will maintain that player's rights as an RFA regardless.
   1. RFA age is players who are 28 with no contract left, or 27 with 1 year left.

1. RFA pre-signing period opens February 1st each year. It closes after the playoffs.
2. Players dealt after the RFA deadline can immediately be signed using the calculator by their new team if they so wish.
3. Players cannot sign a new deal in BRHL if they are still on their NHL ELC.
   1. These players will not be able to be bid on by others in RFA.
   2. Players without a 2nd contract who haven’t signed it by August 30th will be signed to a 1-year deal on August 31st.
      1. Estimated value to be determined by the commissioners.
      2. If a GM does NOT agree to that 1-year deal, he may allow the player to hold out until a new NHL deal is signed.
      3. If the GM chooses this route, there is no changing his mind. The player WILL sit out until he has a new contract, at which time the GM must submit an offer using the RFA calculator.

1. All RFA signings are to be done using the RFA Calculator [link will appear later].
   1. Please input the player's information, and get the cap figure from www.capwages.com.
   2. Make sure to add an extra year onto the player's age to reflect how old they will be in the sim when the contract comes into effect.
   3. Each season, teams will only have two 4-year deals and two 5-year deals to resign players with.
   4. Email all RFA re-signings to whoever is running RFA that year (check in Slack to be certain).
   5. If you choose not to sign a player to the amount determined by the spreadsheet, you may let him test the RFA waters, or you may alert the commissioner's office that you would like to release the player’s rights. You do not need to send notice to qualify a guy. If you aren’t releasing him, you keep his rights.
2. Compensation for signing an RFA is as follows:
   1. $475,000 to $1,499,999 = no compensation
   2. $1,500,000 to $2,499,999 = 5th Round Draft Pick
   3. $2,500,000 to $3,499,999 = 4th Round Draft Pick
   4. $3,500,000 to $4,499,999 = 3rd Round Draft Pick
   5. $4,500,000 to $5,499,999 = 2nd Round Draft Pick
   6. $5,500,000 to $6,499,999 = 1st Round Draft Pick
   7. $6,500,000 to $7,499,999 = 1st & 2nd Round Draft Picks
   8. $7,500,000 to $8,999,999 = two 1st Round Draft Picks
   9. $9,000,000+ = three 1st Round Draft Picks

1. You are NOT required to have paid for picks you’d be using to make RFA offers, but you will have to pay immediately upon the bid being successful.
   1. You will have 48 hours from when the other team announces it is taking the compensation to pay for future years needed. Failure to do so will result in a hefty fine (precedent to be set if/when it first happens).
   2. You MUST have proper pick compensation before the bid expires on an RFA. Failure to do so will result in a loss of a future 2nd round pick.
      1. At least 1 of the picks MUST be in the next draft. If multiple picks are being transferred as part of compensation, the highest pick MUST be in the next draft. If multiple 1sts are involved, at least one MUST be in the next draft.
      2. If RFA bidding is on a player with multiple firsts, the earliest picks owned will be the ones used for compensation. Again, none MUST be in the upcoming draft.
      3. If you have multiple picks that qualify (except in the scenario of a sign & trade, covered below), the team losing the player would have their choice amongst your available picks.
   3. When bidding on RFA’s they are for 1-year deals and cannot include signing bonuses.
      1. The number of years will be open from 1-5 if a player is only 1 year away from UFA.
   4. When bidding for RFA’s your bid must be at least 200k higher than the prior bid.
   5. You cannot up your own RFA bids, regardless of the reason.
   6. If your RFA does not sign an offer sheet during the RFA period, you will be required to negotiate a new contract for a minimum term with the league offices. Except for players who are in their last contract before UFA, they can be multi-year deals.
      1. The commissioners will DM a suggestion on a deal; these are meant to be realistic to get it done quickly. If the player is 28, he will present different yearly options.
   7. Teams CANNOT give other teams an incentive to bid on their RFA at discounted rates. This will result in HEAVY fines, including draft picks, cash, and potentially the player(s) involved becoming instant UFA's.
   8. For FA bidding, you may partake in UFA bidding. If one of YOUR RFAs gets an offer, you can match or take compensation, regardless of what your cap hit shows. In short, you can go over the $3 million threshold in free agency if it’s matching an RFA offer that puts you over. Obviously, once you have matched, and that salary is added to your team, your ability to up your UFA offers could be significantly impacted. You have 48 hours from the offer being finalized to match; otherwise, it will default to taking compensation. It is the GM’s responsibility to notify the commish if they are matching, or it will be processed as though they aren’t.
      1. The commissioners can and will message a team regarding needing to match an RFA if they can.
   9. You may not retain salary on a sign-and-trade RFA, or on a matched RFA, until the start of the season.

1. Commissioners will set minimum levels for sign & trade contracts before FA starts. These are roughly based on draft pick value.
2. Teams may agree to take other forms of compensation outside of the draft pick compensation. In an instance where a team does not like the RFA offer presented, they can shop around for someone to increase the offer, having a set compensation set out, where they let that player sign elsewhere for the alternative compensation. When this occurs, the RFA player CANNOT stay with his current team.
3. Once you have a sign and trade arranged, you MAY NOT continue to shop the player. If someone ups the bid, it is up to the team that is trading for the player to decide if they want to void the deal or raise the bid and agree to the sign-and-trade. You must be the winner of the bid for the sign and trade to not be void.
4. Any pre-negotiated signs and trades must be sent to the Commissioners for approval. Otherwise, it will be treated as an unsolicited bid, and proper compensation will be required before the bidding ends on that player.
5. Unlike UFA, there is no penalty for trading recently signed RFAs.

Please note that UFA modifications occur yearly — for the most relevant rules, consult those outlined at the start of each UFA season.

1. To ensure an active and fair unrestricted free agency period, teams will not be able to re-sign their UFAs before they hit the market.
   1. Players who are 29 with 0 years on their contract are UFA.

1. Unrestricted free agency will work simply on a highest bidder format; you know when you’re in the lead and when you’re not.
2. Unrestricted Free Agency is done using our UFA model on the website. It basically makes sure you’re not violating any of the rules set out.
3. To place a bid on a player, you must increase the bid of the previous offer by no less than $200,000.
4. You cannot increase your own bids, regardless of the reason.
5. A team has a maximum of 5 live bids and cannot exceed that number.
6. Signing bonuses may not exceed the TOTAL contract amount. So, a 4-year, 2-million-dollar offer may not have a signing bonus of more than 4 million (total, across the deal).
7. Loyalty is 10% if you finished the previous year with the player.
8. Bonuses for the term are as follows, and only apply to deals over 1m:
   1. 1-year deal = no bonus
   2. 2-year deal = 7% bonus
   3. 3-year deal = 14% bonus
   4. 4-year deal = 20% bonus
   5. 5-year deal = 25% bonus
9. Teams may NOT release players during unrestricted free agency. The only transactions allowed during free agency are actual trades between teams. A buyout period before UFA will open and close.
10. Teams have a $3,000,000 cap cushion during the off-season and Free Agency.

Trading recently signed UFA's cannot be done before the following time periods without penalty (based on the contract BEFORE retention):

1. During the FA Period, players making $1.5m or above HAVE to be in the pros. If you have one on the farm, the league will call them up and will not make an alternate adjustment.
2. During the FA Period, you must always have a healthy/signed/eligible roster. You can demote guys once players are signed to your team, but you must have an eligible pro roster.

1. The STHS sim does not correlate performance with attendance and is completely random. Understanding that, we continue to try and tweak our system to accurately reflect what you would be making in revenue in the NHL, given your record.
2. GMs are unable to change their ticket prices. Each team will fill its arena to capacity as season tickets are set at 100%. Your performance will dictate what you charge for the ticket price.

1. In addition to ticket revenue, the teams generate “other revenue,” which STHS dictates as 49% of gate receipts. Using these two figures, we’ve projected our revenue so that based on an 82-game (41 home games) season, there are 3 tiers of teams. Every team will begin as a premier team for the start of the season, showing the excitement of your fans and the promise of the new season; from there, performance will dictate your tier. Tiers reset at the end of every year.
2. There are 3 different tiers of teams:
   1. Premier teams – the top 10 teams in the league, based on win percentage at the quarter marks.
   2. Mediocre teams – the middle 12 teams in the league, based on win percentage at the quarter marks.
   3. Struggling teams – the bottom 10 teams in the league, based on win percentage at the quarter marks.
3. With the roughly 3.7-4m in revenue you make in the farm, you can see that if you’re a cap team and you don’t perform, you’re going to need to find alternate ways to earn funds, including but not limited to:
   1. Trades.
   2. League work (data entry).
   3. League articles.
4. BRHL Funds are given for league activity and participation. The BRHL commissioners have two reserve options in place for the sole purpose of supplementing teams paying their contracts, which is the same as it’s always been with the previous financial structure. The difference is to match the NHL spending and revenue in the BRHL world. No matter the structure or attempts, it’s highly unlikely to achieve a shared result. Any subjective money given to teams will be done on a case-by-case basis and won’t always be the same each year. What this means is additional funds won’t be released for teams to stockpile money, or devalue the amount that teams have already worked hard to obtain and run their team efficiently. Without providing certain and specific parameters, trust that the BRHL Commissioners will have all of the above in mind when money is handed out.
5. Third party BRHL money and betting will cease at the end of the 2025-26 BRHL Season.

Content pending — the league is moving to a new financial model. This section will be updated once it's finalized.

1. Yearly Franchise Fee is $50 (USD).
2. Franchise Fees are due yearly.
3. You may use cash owed to you to pay for your franchise fee.
4. You may not trade draft picks in the upcoming season unless you have paid for them.
5. If a team is sold for less than $50 to a new GM, that will be reflected in the payout amounts.
6. If we have to run a full season with a commissioner-controlled team (which hasn’t happened yet), the payouts would reflect that as well.
7. If you decide to leave before the end of the season, the league will NOT refund you for your franchise fee.
8. Should you cede control of the team, the league has the right to manage the team and keep any funds from doing so.
9. Should you be fired in the middle of a season, you will not be refunded, and the league will take control of your franchise; any monies earned during the season will be paid to the GM who was dismissed.
10. We reserve the right to refuse payment for an additional season, should we feel that the long-term fit may not be best for both parties.

1. This is subject to change.
2. If all the monies dedicated to paying out for THN's top 50 prospects are not distributed (e.g. there are only 47 players in BRHL2), the remaining balance will be put towards league costs.

Total: 62% of the payout pool.

Total: 10.5% of the payout pool.

Total: 22% of the payout pool.

League Costs: 7% of the payout pool.