Franchise Tag?

[NJDevils]

As you all know, starting this offseason we will only be able to submit one offer to one of our free agents. While I'm sure the increased free agency talent pool excites most of us, I, to say the least, am not one of them.

I would like to bring to the league a proposal for a type of "Franchise Tag", similar to what they do in the NFL, in the hopes that it could be used to keep a second player.

In my head, the tag would be given to a player along with an amount of years - 1, 2, 3, or 4. The player would then receive the average salary of the top 5 players at his position (can be done by stats, OV, or salary).

When a player is franchised, the tag cannot be given back out until that contract runs out.

This, at least in my head, would be added to the current change of 1 (attempted) UFA resign per team.

For example:

New Jersey resigns player X and franchises player Y for 4 years. The tag cannot be given out until the contract runs out, so for the next 4 season, only one player can be resigned.

Or:

New Jersey resigns player x and franchises player y for 2 years. The next season only one player can be resigned, but following the second season, NJ would be free to resign and franchise another 2 players.

While I understand the desire for talent to change hands, I do feel like only being able to resign one player can severely hurt teams come the off season.

[leafs]

i like this idea a lot

especially the part about only getting to have 1 active franchise tag at a time

[BluesGM]

i'm not sure about this - but i'd be more comfortable if the 1-ufa re-sign per offseason was guaranteed. aka: you can negotiate the terms with the UFA instead of one hit-or-miss offer like we've had the last two years

[oilersgm]

I like it in NFL not NHL lol

[sensgm]

I dont mind the idea if the franchised player can only sign to a one year contract and must retain with the team for the whole season - Ive been in leagues with that rule before and it worked very well. Naturally the GM could then keep the same player the following season as their franchised player.

I also dont mind Alex's idea!

[Harry]

I'm a bit concerned that this "One UFA Re-Signing" rule is going to create a mess. Just look at how ridiculous some of these UFA contracts are, i.e. Wideman getting $6M+. People are going to end up having to spend $3-4M on 3rd and 4th line talent to fill out their rosters.

Shouldn't teams that gave up assets and worked to acquire these players have some sort of advantage in having a small window to negotiate extensions for players they wish to retain? Maybe just make it more challenging or difficult to re-sign your own UFA players, but limiting it to only one is something I do not agree with.

[BluesGM]

May 16, 2012 18:11:17 GMT -5 Harry said:

I'm a bit concerned that this "One UFA Re-Signing" rule is going to create a mess. Just look at how ridiculous some of these UFA contracts are, i.e. Wideman getting $6M+. People are going to end up having to spend $3-4M on 3rd and 4th line talent to fill out their rosters.

Shouldn't teams that gave up assets and worked to acquire these players have some sort of advantage in having a small window to negotiate extensions for players they wish to retain? Maybe just make it more challenging or difficult to re-sign your own UFA players, but limiting it to only one is something I do not agree with.

I only let us re-sign one guy in our leagues Harry - and it worked out great. But it was a guaranteed re-sign, which at least gave us a sense of security with keeping at least one of our FA's

[oilersgm]

I like the new rule it might make some teams develop some farm players

[penguins]

I like the Franchise Tag but with a shorter length to the contract ( 1 or 2 years ) The Player with the Franchise Tag must play out the whole length of contract on that team.

Also agree the "One UFA Re-Signing rule" not a fan. The UFA could have the Franchise Tag placed on them. In the NFL almost all players given the Franchise Tag are veteran players ( Wes Welker in NE signed the Franchise Tag for $9.5Million for one season. )

[Harry]

May 16, 2012 19:32:17 GMT -5 oilersgm said:

I like the new rule it might make some teams develop some farm players

And by the time those farm players are developed and on the roster, they're going to become free agents and you won't be able to retain them due to this rule.

I understand the reason why this limitation in re-signing UFAs is being put in place, to create more excitement and make the UFA signing period more meaningful and competitive, however, the ridiculous offers that we're all going to compete with is going to create a lot of salary cap problems throughout the league.