I guess I used the term "NHL template" so I will have a go. I use the term to describe what I have done in the current version, where the league has operated for about 7 seasons. I start by creating the NHL. On July 1 (or whatever date editing is currently allowed) I edit this NHL league to essentially replace it with my fictional league-I edit teams and players, including farm teams, but don't otherwise move teams around or edit the league structure. At this point, I will have entirely replaced the original NHL league with my fictional league and it continues to operate in the full hockey universe.
I think the reason this seems to work is that I am not editing the NHL structure, or number of teams, schedule etc. so the game doesn't have to deal with those complications. Unfortunately this may also be the principal limitation in using this approach. I am OK with it, so I was simply seeking confirmation that it would still be available. If we had the option of starting an NHL league entirely with fictional players-that would save a lot of work for me
