In a dramatic move, the BCHL made changes to develop stability of team rosters throughout the year.
The major change is a reduction of player cards from 45 to 35 per team, combined with a transaction cap. A “card” is used when a player is signed by a junior A team.
When a player is signed, that’s one card.
When a player is acquired, a card is required, and when a player is traded, that card is gone.
Limiting teams to 35 cards per season, will reduce player movement in the form of acquisitions, cuts, and trades.
At the same time, the BCHL is limiting teams to eight player trades during the regular season.
Each player involved in a trade counts toward that number. So for instance, if a team trades player A for players B, C and D, the team has burned four of those eight transactions. They have also burned 4 cards.
One other change concerns future considerations trades.
Any player who’s dealt as future consideration can not play for his original trading team the following year. If player A was dealt from Team A to Team B in the 2014-15 season player A could not return to Team A in the 2015-16 season.
While it may take some time for member teams to adapt, these rule changes should have the desired result of reducing roster movement. In turn players will feel more comfortable when they sign with a team.
Joe Hughes
