The suits want to take your money

[jRuutu 2,426]

 

Hello! The point of this article is to speculate, ramble, and rant about the VHLE. I have some questions and comments regarding VHLE. As always, time spent on doing research is minimal and whatever analysis you read is purely from my point of view.

 

According to the announcement post: ''VHLE is not a developmental  league like the VHLM''.  The same post says that players with 200 - 399 TPE will play in VHLE.  Is the league going to be a playing field for the welfare and inactive players? If the spirit of the league is to win and be similar to VHL, the slow earners and semi-actives have a lot more value than someone who might play only one season in VHLE.  The general managers will, without a doubt, try to get as many slow earners into their roster as they possibly can.

 

Example player. Chris Foley of the Calgary Wranglers has 350 TPE now. Chris is an S74 draftee, who played 4 full seasons in VHLM. The current season is his second in VHL. With a quick look at Foley's earning record, you can see that Foley has been mostly doing the welfare + weekly practice for TPE. There are some holes in his record in terms of not doing that every single week, but the point is that player like Foley would be valuable for teams in VHLE.  He earns relatively slowly, it will take a long time for him to reach 400 TPE.  Players like Foley will play multiple seasons in VHLE.

 

My question is: who are the ''winners'' here? General managers. They get to have fun. Why? There is no cap in VHLE. There is no responsibility to give the active players the bigger roles. The general managers can basically do whatever they want. Can the players do the same? Not even close

 

If I go back to Foley and the ''350 TPE players''. These types of players will more than likely be top-6 players in every VHLE team.  That is minutes away from active players. The point of VHLE is to win games and championships, so it's fine, but is it? Not in my opinion. It was not enough that players like Foley can play 4 full seasons in VHLM, eating minutes away, but now they are rewarded with additional opportunity to shine.  

 

What makes it sting, even more, is the fact that you can't just skip the VHLE. You need to play in the league. Only very few can reach 350 TPE by the time they get drafted into VHL. I have 150ish TPE now after recreating in the first week of this ongoing season. If I recreated during the optimal time during the last trade deadline, I would now have around 200+ TPE, maybe. I earn 12 capped every week. It is my understanding that the only way you have a shot at reaching 350 TPE and skipping the VHLE is if you donate money to the league. THAT IS TERRIBLE.

 

Effort and dedication should always be rewarded. VHL is not rewarding the ''max'' earners by giving them clearly superior players in the sim. If I have 1000+ TPE that I can now freely use, even if I close my eyes and start randomly clicking the screen for ten minutes, whatever comes out should be a superior player to someone who claims welfare and training. It should be impossible for me to be worse than a career welfare player.

 

Sim engine has its limitations. If the league, for whatever reason, can't and won't offer the ''max'' earners a clear edge in the sim over welfare/semi-active users, what is left?  You could give these players the freedom to decide where they play. I should have the option to decide whether I play in VHLE or VHL.

 

The idea of having to play in a smaller role behind semi-actives sounds terrible. If the league wants to create a boom around VHL, put the actives there as early as possible. Let them create content and interest around VHL.

 

 

Cake. That is all.

 

Part 2 - As a player, how can I fight back? What should I do to maximize profits?

 

Quote from the VHLE announcement post: ''If a player has been drafted to the VHL they will receive their VHL contract but otherwise all players are signed to $1.5M contracts with no bonuses or salary cap to speak of''.

 

Obvious option. You need to ask for a huge salary from your VHL team. According to the rule book, the maximum salary for a rookie player is 6m. Is there any reason why you should not ask for such a salary? Think about it. You are pretty much forced to play in the VHLE. There is no cap. Sure, it could make things difficult for the VHL team,  but that 6m is money away from semi-actives and their contracts. 

 

What happens if the team refuses to give you the 6m deal?

 

Quotes from the rulebook. Section 3.2:  Holdouts.  ''Any player who elects to hold out will not be eligible to play in either the VHL or VHLM until they have signed a VHL contract.''

 

and

 

''If the player is a draftee, the team that has drafted their rights has the ability to take them to salary arbitration''.

 

So if I understood it correctly, if you and the team are not able to come into an agreement about the deal, salary arbitration is next. You can read more about it in the rulebook, but basically, the ruling or decision about the contract is made by the commissioners based on your TPE, activity, team composition, and other factors.  If the team says yes to the decision given by the commissioners, that is that. Contract is signed. The player can't do anything.

 

Everything about the salary arbitration world is unknown territory for me, and I reckon it's the same for a lot of players in VHL. You don't hear about salary arbitrations too often. I think it's time we change that.  The wording of the rules makes it sound like that 6m is not guaranteed. However, you need to ask yourself: what is the point in having maximum salaries if nobody asks for them? What is the point in having maximum salaries if nobody can get them?

 

For far too long we have accepted the minimum deals. I have always done it, but no more. It's time that the players take control. We need to unite and fight back. We need to show the suits who are playing and who is watching. We need to show the suits that we decide where we play. We need to show the semi-actives who are the stars.

 

Ask for the huge deals. Don't be afraid to make things difficult for the VHL team that drafted you. If you earn the max capped every week, you are the reason why any team wins championships.

 

1065 without the quotes

 

7.6 - 13.6

14.6 - 20.6

[jRuutu 2,426]

14.6 - 20.6