[Flinch]

Credit goes to LuckyLeprechaun on the hfboards...

Things to Think About When Making a Proposal:

1) Team Needs
Taking into account both teams' needs in terms of positions and skill is very important. Don't fall into the trap of looking at one team's need and then fulfilling it at the expense of the other team. Both teams need to have motivation to do the trade, not just your hometeam.

2) Contract Status
Is the player a UFA next season? Is he signed long-term? Is he being paid more than they're worth? Does he have a NTC? Contract status is a very big part of trades, as teams tend to value players who are signed long-term more than impending UFAs. On the other hand, however, trade deadline deals more often than not are for UFAs who teams are interested in "renting" for a playoff run.
Obviously, how much a player is being paid is a big part of it as well. A player who is making less than he could has significantly higher value than one who is making more than he should be.
Don't forget to check if a player has a No Trade/Movement Clause in his contract. If a player has a NTC, he's very likely not going to a team which isn't a strong contender. Though things like personal connections and whether a player has played for his potential destination before, as well as the desirebility of the respective city, can also affect a player's decision. Chances are, however, that if the team is unlikely to make a Cup run sometime during the remaining years on the player's contract, the player would rather stay home.

3) Salary Cap
To go along with contract status, looking at a team's Cap status in relation to the price of the contracts being moved is a must. If a team doesn't have room to make a trade, the trade doesn't happen, simple as that.
Along the same lines, teams often have a self-imposed Salary Cap. Do your best to find out what payroll a team is looking to operate at.
Don't forget, not only is there a Salary Ceiling, but there's also a Salary Floor. A team cannot go below the Salary Floor in the same way they cannot go above the Ceiling.
You can use the fact that contracts are pro-rated to your advantage if necessary. For example, a trade halfway through the season would only move the remaining half of the player's contract that has yet to be paid. So even if a team doesn't have enough room for a player at the beginning of the season, they may have room for him at the trade deadline.
Finally, don't just look at contracts for one year; if a contract will put a team over the cap for next year, or cuff them in terms of re-signing players with expiring contracts, they likely won't do it. Obviously this doesn't apply to UFA rentals.

4) Team Goals
All teams are trying to win a Stanley Cup, but not all of them are doing it in the same way. Some are happy with their rosters and not looking to make a trade, some are geared up for a Cup run and looking to make minor tweaks, others are retooling, and again others are looking to rebuild entirely. Not all of these teams are looking for the same thing in trades. A team who wants to make a Cup run isn't going to trade their star for picks and/or prospects, while a team that's rebuilding isn't going to be looking to trade their future for a trade deadline rental. Figure out what the team's looking to do, then make your proposal accordingly.

5) Draft Picks
Not all draft picks are alike. A 1st from one team in one year would not be the same as a 1st from another team in another year. Obviously, team placement in the final standings affect the quality of the draft pick, so a higher ranked team would have lower quality draft picks than a lower ranked team. Also, different draft years are different quality. Some drafts are very top heavy, with the first 5 picks or so being quality, but have it drop off significantly. In drafts like this, picks that aren't likely to be in this top 5 are not nearly as good as ones that are likely to place in the top.
Draft picks are not always the quick fix solution to make up the difference in a trade, so think about the value of a pick with regards to the developement time and the likely skill level of the resulting player. This, again, varies by draft and team, so be careful.

6) Prospects
Do not overrate potential; teams prefer proven, young talent over unproven prospects. Don't fall into the trap of thinking anyone is a sure bet to make it big, as players like Alexander Daigle and Patrick Stefan show that even top picks can miss. There are many prospects who don't make it to the NHL, even ones who seem like sure bets, so don't think if you can throw enough prospects at one team, it will land you a top player in return.
Also, don't even bother trying to trade for a teams top prospect. Chances are to acquire that prospect, you'll have to overpay. As soon as you start overpaying, then it's unbalanced against you.

7) Franchise Players
Much like trading for top prospects, there are many established players who are very unlikely to be traded from their team. You need to recognize which players are deemed as franchise players by the team, and then steer clear of them.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

1) "Homerism"
Just because a player plays for your team, doesn't mean he's better than he would be if he played elsewhere. Be very cafeful when evaluating your own players, too often posters overvalue their own players and pay a price for it.

2) "Quantity=Quality"
Sending a bunch of trash players to one team will not net the other team a star. If you want quality, you need to give quality in return, it's that simple.

3) "It Worked in NHL 08"
This is not video game hockey, so you can't simply see if a trade works in a video game and decide it's a good trade. There are so many factors that video games don't take into account that you need to.

Final Things to Consider:

1) Spelling and Grammar
Take some time to make your post presentable; check to make sure it uses proper punctuation, capitals where necessary, and that the words are spelled right. Don't stress if you miss a word or two, but I guarantee you'll taken more seriously if you put effort into making your post look nice. The board has a nice spell check feature that can come in handy, be sure to use it.

2) Outline Your Thought Process
It's like Math class all over again, where even if you got the answer wrong, you still got points for showing your work. (Assuming you did it right, of course.) Take the same approach here; give a short paragraph briefly stating why each team would want to make the trade. This gives people your reasoning behind the trade so they can help you out in where you went wrong. Also, it may just save you from making a poor proposal if you realize you can't explain why either team would make the trade. In that case, it might be best not to post it.

3) Take Criticism for What it is
If you make a proposal that isn't quite right, chances are you'll get some criticism and advice to make it better. Don't flame them or fight them because they disagree with you, use their advice to help you tweak your proposal to get more in line with what it should be.

4) If You're Not Sure, Ask
If you're still not sure about your proposal, ask about it. You're much less likely to get flamed for asking a question than you are for making a bad proposal.

Be Cautious When Composing Multi-Way Trades
Trades that involve more than 2 teams can be especially tricky, as it adds more players to the equation, and that makes it much tougher to estimate the value of what each team gives up and receives. It can help if you break each team's involvement up into "[Team] Receives" and "[Team] Gives Up." This will help how good well balanced the trade is as far as each team's return on their players.

[tomato sauce]

Thanks for the post...since I was just gonna post Ovechkin for a 6th round pick

[Hinkil]

well said, though i doubt it'll change anything.

[Flinch]

Hinkil, on Dec 19 2007, 12:14 PM, said:

well said, though i doubt it'll change anything.

Eh.

Mods should lock and warn/suspend users who don't follow these guidelines, IMO.

[LoudProudNuckFan]

Not the first time somthing like this has been posted but yet its still a good reminder for those making proposals

This post has been edited by LoudProudNuckFan: 19 December 2007 - 05:50 PM

[Wildcarder]

Any thoughts on my SJ/TB prop Flincher?

[Just_one]

If offering a prospect ie. schneider, make sure other team does actually have a need for such prospect ie. a team without a top goaltending prospect.
Not a 'big' one as it can still happen, but the first posts you usually see in a trade involving schneider is : they already have "bernier, rask, etc."

[Canucks_nhl]

good post now if I want to make a proposal I'll know what to do










This should be Sticky

[tapeboy]

Flinch for Canucks GM!

[leo2892]

No arguments here, solid post.

[Tenacious]

Most of these tings should come as common hockey sense, but who knows with CDC.

Don't sticky it. Stickied threads are the threads that new people never read.

[Saku_Koivu]

good post, but i doubt the dumb proposals will stop

[Flinch]

Canuck_Nut#1, on Dec 19 2007, 03:50 PM, said:

good post, but i doubt the dumb proposals will stop

They would if the mods cracked down on people who make stupid threads.

[Syntax]

Didn't actually read that whole thing, but to add:

A player drafted in the first round of the previous year does not mean he's worth a 1st round pick in this year's draft.

eg. Lucic was a second round pick. Send a second round pick for him. Does not work, worth a first round pick and more now.

[ENuck]

Flinch, on Dec 19 2007, 09:50 PM, said:

They would if the mods cracked down on people who make stupid threads.

Or... if they bothered to read an entire post.

[tomato sauce]

Testing Testing, is this a good proposal at the deadline?

Frolov for Bieksa

Frolov, a whopping 4 goals so far. LA has depth at the forward position
Bieksa is surplus to this team, and could be what LA is looking for for a top 4 since Modry and Blake are near the end of their careers.

[dhabums]

Now if you can offer some details on how I can make proposals that will lead to sucking of some sort it would be appreciated.

[poppamidnight]

you forgot these two:

-The past is the past....Theres a reason players move to diffierent teams and fans need to MOVE ON... (theres too many "bring back" proposals here)

AND (more importantly) HERES ONE MORE APPLICABLE TO THE CANUCKS

-VETERAN LEADERSHIP: Teams dont always need "veteran Leadership", and furthermore, it's never a garanteed improvement like some of you (including you Flinch i.e. "Smolinski") seem to think it is...
I think (actually im hoping) our own GM has finally learned that bringing in vets never is garanteed to reap big rewards: Ruchinsky, Bergevan, Carney, Weinrich, Smolinski

This post has been edited by poppamidnight: 21 December 2007 - 09:20 AM

[Wetcoaster]

Finish Grade 8 before posting proposals.

[tomato sauce]

Wetcoaster, on Dec 21 2007, 10:56 AM, said:

Finish Grade 8 before posting proposals.

well, that certainly counts you out, doesn't it?