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 are declared at the the Keeper Declaration Deadline, the date of which the Commissioners announce in the offseason. The Keeper Declaration Deadline cannot be any later than one (1) week preceding the date of the Draft. Keepers are submitted via a form that can be accessed from a franchise's team page near the end of the offseason

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

Missing Keeper Cost
In the event the general manager does not hold the appropriate keeper cost, he has two options at his disposal:


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

For example: suppose a keeper's cost 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

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 keeper cost.

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. Keeper Cost varies 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 – "transition" – 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.

Tier D to Tier C
The Keeper Cost for players transitioning from Tier D to Tier C will occur as follows:

Round 14-23 -> Round 11

''This transition scenario only applies for players who did not receive an offer sheet. The transition for players who had an offer sheet matched by their original club can be found on the Offer Sheets page.''

Tier C to Tier B
The Keeper Cost for players transitioning from Tier C to Tier B will occur as follows:

Round 5-11 => Round 3

Tier B to Tier A
The Keeper Cost for players transitioning from Tier B to Tier A will occur as follows:

Round 3 => Round 2

Tier A
Tier A keepers do not transition, and their Keeper Cost remains Round 2 from year-to-year.

Re-Acquisition of Previous Keeper
A keeper that is traded and re-acquired by a same team that kept him 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 the re-acquiring club can avoid the Transition.

A keeper year is defined as the amount of time between two consecutive keeper submission deadlines, inclusively.

2016-17
- 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. - ''(os) denotes the player in question was the recipient of an offer sheet that was matched by his club. His matched keeper cost is listed in the Compensation column.''