06-16-2020, 02:37 PMJKortesi81 Wrote:

06-16-2020, 02:00 PMThe__Y-man__100 Wrote: I can’t see us expanding when teams like Tampa and Minnesota have no one

This.

The allure of expansion and new teams is always bright, but we can't actually consider this when we have teams where the roster is barren like Tampa, and to a certain extent Toronto and Minnesota.

If we truly need more space for some players, we have the option of using the 4th line for the SHL teams the same way it works pretty damn well in IIHF and the SMJHL.

The argument of "nobody wants to play on a 4th line" is pretty weak, and teams can always adjust their playing times to give them more time if needed. But as of now we're pushing 800-900 TPE players out of the league sometimes, and for what?

16 teams with 3 extra forward spots opened up is 48 more SHL big league spots, and as a result, 48 less players taking up the prime slots in the J.

The answer isn't expansion, that's for sure.

For Minnesota and Toronto, you are absolutely ignoring they're deep prospect pools that will be filling their line-ups shortly. Or with Tampa's high number of draft picks for the next couple of seasons which will be filling those spots.

I get that you don't want expansion, as a GM, I don't want to lose good players. But by every measure, it is the correct path. You can say the 4th line argument is weak, but no matter what you do, they aren't getting special teams time, they're guaranteed playing less than 12 other people above them and you can fuck with it all you want, they won't play enough to be entertaining.

This is a game. This is for fun. Sticking people on the 4th line kills that for enough people that it would actively drive away active members of the site, I can guarantee it. I've seen enough who went inactive on the 3rd line because of limited opportunity.

This also ignores budgeting. Are we suddenly raising the budget for 4th lines to include actives? Because active teams will not have reasonable space for that under the current budget.