We're Folding the VHLM

[Spartan 4,531]

I don't think I've written a theme week article in a hot minute, but since it's about the M I can't help but decide to write something for this season's theme. Nothing I say here is the official VHLM stance unless I explicitly state it is, mostly just my personal opinions and a peek behind the curtains of the green machine.

 

The biggest question regarding the M, to me at least, is what are the underlying goals of the VHLM? There's always a ton of factors to consider with a development league oriented for new members. When designing a developmental league, how much freedom for competitive advances should we allow? How much GM freedom should there be? League oversight and interference? Beyond the core pillars of the M, in development, retention and engagement, there's still so much more that goes into the M and its macro/micro components.

 

Without any GM freedom at all (ex. trades, waiver involvement) we see that there's a struggle to hire new candidates. It's a significant issue, as the M faces the highest amount of turnover from season to season due to poaching to the E/VHL, or even just burnout from GMs for having to be the most engaged group on the site on a daily basis. It's a tall task to be a GM in the minor leagues. Even with the pay increase, it's still a tedious job where your efforts will often fall on deaf ears. Even with waivers, we've had ongoing discussions regarding the current waiver system and what can be done for waivers to make more sense/be more fair to all teams. We've had our first(?) major waiver change back when Gus and I took over as commissioners, removing the manual, forum-based approach in favor of a semi-automated, portal-based system that eliminates 24/7 GM lurking and puts the decision-making power into the hands of the players. It's certainly not a "fair" approach with waivers, but it does let players pick the spot where they feel they'd be most engaged in. If someone wants top line minutes, it doesn't seem fair to them to have them get claimed to be a 3rd line forward, or vice versa with someone who wants to be on a contending team in playoffs. But it does lead to some wonky roster sizes (especially after trades) that doesn't really make sense in a development league. Walking that line with GM interest and competitiveness is a difficult one.

 

Lastly there have been some unfounded rumors that the VHLM is going to contract or teams will be realigned to the VHLE for whatever reason I can't be assed to figure out. Just want to squash those OFFICIALLY and state that there have been absolutely 0 discussions about moving M teams to the E. We feel that 10 teams is a pretty comfortable spot for the M, especially with recruitment seemingly doing ok with getting some drives out every other season or so. With an active recruitment team and a drive planned for this season (in the works, hopefully its done), the M should see some new faces this season to help flesh out the emptier rosters.