Keepers

Limits
This section outlines the minimum and maximum number of keepers required to be declared per team, and the maximum term any player can be kept cumulatively under the keeper status.


 * Minimum
 * zero (0) keepers per team


 * Maximum
 * four (4) keepers per team


 * Maximum Keeper Term
 * three (3) consecutive seasons

''Keepers will be released to the draft after three consecutive seasons under the keeper status. Regardless of how many years they spent with one team, any player that is designated a keeper for three seasons will be released to the draft.''

Position Allowances
This section outlines the maximum number of players by position that can be declared keepers, in any keeper scenario. You may not name more than the alloted number of keepers by positions in a keeper submission. Positions can officially be found on Yahoo! Sports on the Yahoo! fantasy page. Players with multiple position eligibility (C/W or W/D) can be considered keepers at either of their officially listed positions.


 * Centers (C)
 * two (2) in any scenario


 * Wingers (W)
 * two (2) in any scenario


 * Defensemen (D)
 * two (2) in any scenario


 * Goaltenders (G)
 * one (1) in any scenario

The purpose of position allowances is to prevent predatory hoarding, and subsequent constriction, of talent at certain positions.

Declaration
Keepers must be declared, at the maximum, within one (1) month preceding the start of the draft. Keepers can be submitted via the Yahoo-supplied form at any time following the final game played of the league championship.

Availability
General managers who have declared players keepers must have the appropriate compensation in place. A player cannot be declared a keeper if the general manager does not hold the appropriate draft pick compensation.

Missing Compensation
In the event the general manager does not hold the appropriate compensation, he has two options at his disposal:


 * 1) Trading for the missing compensation.
 * 2) Foregoing the next highest draft pick held by the team.

For example: suppose a keeper's compensation is a 5th round pick and the general manager in question currently does not have a 5th round pick. He may execute a trade to acquire a 5th round pick or he may may choose to give up his next highest pick, a 4th round pick, in order to successfully keep the player

Downgrade Waivers
Downgrading is the mechanism by which one (1) Tier C or Tier D player can have his keeper compensation level reduced. An alternative use for downgrading is to prevent Tier D/C keepers from transitioning to Tier C/B compensation. Downgrade attempts are permitted throughout the offseason up until the Keeper Declaration Deadline. Every GM can attempt to downgrade one player's keeper status of their choosing once per year.

Steps
GMs will initiate an attempted downgrade by informing the league of their intention to downgrade a player on the Facebook group. Once the league is aware, the GM will place the player on "downgrade waivers" on Yahoo! by dropping him, where he will remain until the waiver processing period is complete. Should the player clear waivers (more on this below), the downgrade will be considered successful. GMs who attempt a downgrade must place a $0 bid in Yahoo! to re-acquire the player off waivers, or, in the case Yahoo! is unavailable for transactions in the offseason, must state in the comments of the Facebook post that the downgrade was successful.

Rival GMs may claim the player by submitting a $0 bid OR by commenting on the Facebook post. Comments are irrevocable, meaning they cannot be deleted or edited. Multiple bids (on Yahoo! or via a comment) will result in an equally-weighted, randomized draw. This end result would indicate an unsuccessful downgrade attempt, where the player does not clear waivers. The catch is that rival GMs who claim this player are obligated to keep him. So, rival GMs can block a downgrade attempt, but at the cost of keeping the player in question at his current, and not downgraded, Tier status. This means that if opposing GMs claim a player off Downgrade Waivers, they are required to either keep him or trade him to another team, which must then keep him. All in all, the player must enter the draft as a keeper.

GMs may only attempt one downgrade per season, whether successful or unsuccessful - they only have one attempt. If a team attempts a downgrade after his season is over and his team is locked, the downgrade process will be written out in the Facebook group post declaring the intention to downgrade (comments would count as $0 bids, no comments would indicate the player cleared waivers).

Downgrade attempts are not permitted while a team is active in postseason play. Should a team place a player on downgrade waivers during postseason play, he cannot be recalled and opposing teams may place bids to acquire the player off the waiver wire as they normally could. No do-overs will be allowed in the misinterpretation of this rule.

Result
There are two possible outcomes in downgrading a player:


 * 1) If a player is not set to transition, he will downgrade two (2) rounds if the downgrade is successful. Meaning, his new keeper compensation will be  X + 2 (where X is the original compensation for the player)
 * 2) If a player IS set to transition, a successful downgrade will prevent him transitioning to the next tier (unchanged).

Example 1
The Maroons drafted Tyson Barrie in Round 7. His keeper compensation calls for a Round 5 pick, as he is a Tier C player and Tier C compensation is X-2.

The Maroons successfully downgrade Barrie. He can now be kept for a Round 7 pick. '' Original compensation: Round 5. Downgraded compensation: 5 - 2 = Round 7''

Scenario 1
At the end of Year 2, Team Bubblegum wishes to prevent Brayden Schenn (Tier D) from transitioning from Tier D to Tier C, as they kept him the previous offseason. Schenn will be considered a Tier C keeper at the end of Year 2 when Team Bubblegum wishes to keep him. Team Bubblegum posts in the Facebook group informing the league of their desire to downgrade Brayden Schenn as such (suggested, can be worded differently):

"Team Bubblegum is placing Brayden Schenn (Tier C) on waivers for the purposes of a Tier downgrade"

Once this is posted, Team A drops Brayden Schenn in Yahoo! and places a $0 bid to re-claim him off downgrade waivers in Yahoo! or in the comments of the Facebook post, should he be unable to do so on Yahoo! directly. The waiver processing period passes and no other bids were placed. Schenn's transition to Tier C will be reduced to Tier D, and he can then be kept as a Tier D player.

Scenario 2
Team Pizza wishes to keep John Carlson, who was drafted as a Tier C player in the Year 2 draft. He was not kept the previous offseason, therefore he will not transition to Tier B this offseason.

It is the last week of the fantasy playoffs and Team Pizza has not made the playoffs, and has decided they will be unable to keep Carlson as a Tier C. Carlson is then placed on downgrade waivers by way of the same process as detailed in Example 1:

"Team Pizza is placing John Carlson (Tier C) on waivers for the purposes of a tier downgrade"

Once posted, Team Pizza drops Carlson in Yahoo! and places a $0 bid to re-claim him (once again, this can be done either on Yahoo! or on Facebook). The waiver processing period passes and three other bids were placed. By way of waiver priority, Team Celery has been awarded John Carlson off downgrade waivers and he no longer belongs to Team Pizza. The downgrade was unsuccessful. Carlson will retain his Tier C status as a result and Team Celery is now required to keep him (as a Tier C, and not Tier D, player).

Scenario 3
Team Pizza wishes to downgrade Ryan Getzlaf from Tier B to Tier C. They are unable to do so, as downgrades may only be attempted with Tier C and D players.

Scenario 4
Team Pizza knows that Steve Ott, a Tier C keeper from the previous offseason, will be transitioning to Tier B once the season is over. They intended to keep him again, but they find the Tier B compensation (a 3rd round pick) to be prohibitive for a player of his calibre. They are aware that downgrades may not be attempted with Tier B players, thus they must attempt a downgrade before Transition Day. Remember that all transitioning Tier C to Tier B keepers may not be downgraded once Transition Day has passed, as the downgrade is only permitted for Tier C and Tier D players. Team Pizza thus decides to place Ott on downgrade waivers. He clears downgrade waivers and the downgrade is successful: he will remain a Tier C keeper this offseason once they decide to renew his keeper status.

Scenario 5
Consider the opposite scenario: Ott is instead claimed off downgrade waivers. Because he was placed on downgrade waivers before the fantasy playoffs ended he has not yet transitioned to Tier B. The team that claims Ott off waivers may also keep him at the cost of Tier C compensation.

History
Downgrading was introduced in 2014. Previously, the system allowed for downgrading of a full Tier. Eligible Tier C players were downgraded to Round 14 successfully. As of 2015-2016, downgrades occur on the fixed basis of a two (2) round reduction in keeper compensation, and no longer via a full Tier drop.

Tiers
At the very foundation of The Conn Smythe Corner's keeper system is the Tier, which determines and denotes a player's keeper status and required keeper compensation.

Players are ascribed a Tier dependent on where they are selected in the draft. In the case where they are undrafted, they are automatically included in the lowest Tier. Players kept for consecutive seasons transition to the next highest Tier for each year they are kept.

Each Tier is described and detailed below. Compensations vary from Tier-to-Tier, and there is a cap for the number of players that can be kept from each Tier.

*X = denotes the round in which the player was drafted.

Players drafted in Round 1 CANNOT be kept under any circumstance.

Tier C: Rounds 7-13
*X = denotes the round in which the player was drafted.

Tier D: Rounds 14-23 & undrafted
*X = denotes the round in which the player was drafted.

Leveling Up
Designated keepers will automatically level up to the next Tier if they are kept consecutively by the same team. Players who were kept one season then traded and kept again by another club will not transition. Transitions only occur in the situation that the same team keeps the same player consecutively.

Players are considered transitioned following the end of the offseason, which is indicated by the keeper submission deadline. Players traded to other teams before the end of the offseason and the keeper submission deadline will not transition as they will not be kept by the same club once again.

Exemption
Keepers who are traded and re-acquired by the same team that originally kept within a year of the transaction will not be transition-exempt, and will thus transition to the next Tier. One keeper year + 1 day must pass before this exemption is applied.

2014-15
- D(d) denotes the player in question was downgraded to Tier D according to the downgrade rules in place at the time of the keeper submission.

- No(d) denotes the player in question was set to transition and subsequently was prevented from transitioning because he was successfully downgraded.