The
coach FA lottery drawing is now complete so we can move forward with our coach signing period! Ratings were posted this past Tuesday.
If you plan on resigning your head coach from last season, please do so before the end of Friday! All AHL coaches whose contracts have expired are available on the open market. Teams who elect to re-sign their NHL head coaches must pay a minimum of a 10% increase over their previous (or rate-adjusted) salary.
Free agent coaches must be signed to a minimum of the stated yearly salary required, which is listed on the coaches page on our site -or- if you are re-signing your existing NHL head coach, please refer to
last season's index if it is necessary for you to pay 10% above that salary.
To view which coaches are only eligible for NHL contracts and which are available at both levels, please check the particular coach's bio on the website and make sure it does not say "NHL Head Coach" in their status, if you wish to sign a coach to your AHL team. This info is also provided on the
season index.
Teams must submit all contract offers through the e-mail address provided in the video and similar to the example below:
- Subject:
Craig MacTavish -- $1,500,000 TCV
- Message:
Firebirds offer for Craig MacTavish
Wait... Craig MacTavish? He's actually coaching again? It isn't a joke this time? Seriously? Well ok then Craig MacTavish!
$500,000 for 3 seasons
Total contract value: $1,500,000
1st choice/2nd choice (if applicable)
Teams with a vacancy may offer contracts to
up to two total coaches at a time, starting on
Saturday, October 8.
Please indicate which offer is your 1st and 2nd choice! If you hold the highest offer for one coach the end of a day, you may bid on one other coach if you would like. If you have offers for two NHL-level coaches on the table, you cannot bid on an AHL-level coach until one of those two offers is taken off the table, or vice-versa.
A couple more notes about your offers: If you have had the highest offer for your "2nd choice" coach for two straight days but continue to make offers for your "1st choice," it will keep the coach "on the table" and eligible for offers from other teams. Also, if a coach "re-enters" the pool because they were a "2nd choice" coach, their highest offer may revert back to the previous high if the team who made the offer agrees to it. If a team who has a "1st choice" offer wants to change it to a "2nd choice" and make an offer to a new "1st choice," notify me immediately!
Once the open market period begins, you will have until midnight ET on Sunday, October 9 to get offers in for the first offer processing.
The e-mail address provided should be used to submit valid contract bids
only. If you need to correct an offer, please submit a new offer with **CORRECTION** at the
end of the subject line before the next processing day.
NEW to this year's free agency is that there is now a Day 0 for any teams who wish to attempt to re-sign an eligible AHL head coach! If you make an
1st-choice offer to your AHL coach before the end of October 8, it will be blind to the rest of the league. If no one else submits a better offer to them by the end of October 9, the coach will re-sign. Day 0 will
not apply for any NHL head coaches, since the lottery was already held for them.
If you have further questions, please use this forum thread.
Reminder:
*Coaches may not be signed for more than 3 years.
*Coaches that are eligible to be re-signed must be given at least a 10% raise from
their previous contract or the
current listed price, whichever is greater.
*Any coaches marked as NHL coaches may not be offered contracts for an AHL team.
*You must have a coaching vacancy in order to make an offer for a new coach.