Waivers

[cjrasmussen]

Waivers at FantasyHockeySim.com are designed to be as close to those in the NHL as possible.  However, some terms and workflows are unique to FHS or are otherwise league-specific, so here's a look at how waivers work within FHS context...

In leagues with a waiver exemption limit set, players who have exceeded the defined number of seasons of waiver exemption must clear waivers before they can be assigned to their club's farm team.  Additionally, any player being released must be first offered to the league's other teams via waivers.

In the former case, the player can be waived for the purposes of demotion, in which case the player will automatically be sent to the farm team upon clearing waivers.

In the latter case, the player can be waived for the purposes of release, which will see the player removed from the team upon clearing waivers.

Additionally, a player can be waived at any time with no stated intent.  In leagues where a player can only play a certain number of games or days on the pro roster without needing to clear waivers again, this can be used to reset the player's status while keeping them on the pro roster (assuming he clears waivers without being claimed by another team).

Finally, there is the concept of Limited Waivers.  Any player acquired via waivers will be ineligible to be traded without first being offered via waivers to the team that lost him via waivers and any other teams that attempted to claim him.  Limited waivers will make such a player available only to those teams.  If the player clears, he is eligible to be traded.  Clearing traditional waivers would also make the player eligible for trade but would require making him available to the entire league.

Players who are on waivers for the purpose of release will not count towards their team's total roster count.  Players who are on waivers for the purpose of demotion will not count towards their team's pro roster count.  The exception to each of these is players on the team's game roster, who will count towards both the total roster count and the pro roster count.  One way of looking at it is that - unless the player is on the game roster - while on waivers he will count as if he had already cleared waivers.

Waivers can either be processed hourly or at a specific time each day, depending on league settings.  League settings also determine how long a player must be on waivers.  For example, if a player is waived at 6:43 PM on Tuesday in a league that processes waivers hourly and requires players to be on waivers for 72 hours, that player will either clear or be claimed at 7:00 PM on Friday.  If a player is waived at 1:03 PM on Monday in a league that processes waivers at noon every day and requires players on waivers for 24 hours, that player's fate would be known at noon on Wednesday.

Any team may make a claim on a player who is on waivers.  If more than one team makes a valid claim, the team with the highest waiver priority will be awarded the player.

A valid waiver claim means that the claiming team has a roster spot available to receive the player.  To claim a player who is currently on his team's pro roster, the claiming team would need to have at least one open slot on their pro roster, their combined roster, and their reserve list.  To claim a player who is currently on his team's farm roster, the claiming team would need to have an open spot on their combined roster and reserve list.  To claim a player from a team's property list, the claiming team would need to have an open spot on their reserve list.