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*.simo* · 05-29-2021, 04:31 PM

Discussed this with some people in a backroom and figured this could use an open discussion, because it seems to be an antithesis to the SMJHL's goal of developing players due to this loophole.

The SMJHL has pretty tight rules surrounding IFAs - teams can only have 2 IAs over 200 TPE, and 3 IAs between 166 and 200 TPE. It's a system that generally ensures that actives will get shots over IAs. However, the system has one flaw that's currently on display - if you can get the player to make 1 post a season just to accept their contract, they don't count towards the limit of IFAs. This seems fine, as some players are Discord active but don't necessarily have the time to update, and it can be nice to keep them around just in case they come back. I'm sure most teams have one or two of these in the J. However, my main issue is with one team: the Kelowna Knights. They've built a stacked team in part by bringing in and retaining long-inactive players and going over the limit by getting them to make single posts on the site.

I don't want this to come across as salt, given that I play for a rival and am currently down 3-2 in the playoffs to Kelowna. They have five players who can be considered site IA and are not currently on SHL send-down deals: Valtteri Aalto, Chad Danger, Grandmaster Funk, Mikhael Petrov, and Brennan Huff. Aalto is under an IFA contract, so that's not an issue, but let's look at the others:

- Mikhael Petrov posted to accept a contract on April 10. Hadn't posted before that since Halloween.
- Brennan Huff posted to accept a contract on April 9. Hadn't posted since February 16.
- Chad Danger posted to accept a contract (with NBB) on April 12. Hadn't posted since October 25.
- Grandmaster Funk posted to accept a contract (with NBB) on April 7. Hadn't posted since February 4.

So while, under the letter of the SMJHL rules, it is perfectly legal for KEL to have all these players since all of them are considered to be "active free agents", it's clearly against the spirit of the rule. None of these four players were anything close to active in a minimum of seven weeks since their last posts on the site before accepting these contracts, so they were clearly inactive. Because Danger and Funk were "active" by signing contracts, KEL was allowed to add a 425 defenseman and 350 winger via trade to a roster that was already over the limit of IAs that they should have been able to have (at least going by their last posts). This just doesn't feel like something that should be allowed to become the norm. The IA caps exist for a clear reason - to ensure that teams are focusing on getting actives in their LRs and continuing the cycle of development - and a circumvention in this manner isn't fair to other teams that are in good faith trying to get actives in the room. Next season Kian Hamilton, Cian McFelter, and Michael Scotch will all be fifth-season IAs (McFelter is site IA, the other two haven't posted since April 30) and Huff can still return for one more season, meaning that we could end up in this same situation again if KEL reaches them to just post once to accept a contract.

As well, on a different tangent to all of this, Aalto (last post March 17) is currently starting in the playoffs over the active Benjamin Blue-II. I don't know if this was just a mistake from leaving the backup in from Game 66, or if it's because Aalto has more TPE, but intentionally starting an IA over an active in the playoffs seems really off to me.

Not really sure how to fix this, since it's a tricky line to cross with semi-active and Discord active players. Maybe players are required to submit an update in the season before they sign an active contract, and if they don't they're required to be on an IFA deal for that season. Maybe there's an additional cap set on the number of fifth-year SMJHL players that a team can roster (of which the Knights have five). Again, I don't want this to come across as a salty loser about the playoffs, but a team being able to stack their roster like this with high TPE IAs doesn't sit right.