Minor league hockey scouting question (ECHL)

[russwg1970]

I'm not familiar with what to really do with my scouts in the ECHL. Where should they be scouting? I'm not real familiar with the ECHL, as according to the league settings, there doesn't appear to be a draft of any sort.

I'm assuming the ECHL is for descent Jr. Hockey players that exceeded the age limit for Jr Hockey and get paid a very small salary.

So, I'm sure scouting is pretty important since there isn't a draft... I guess scout the Jr hockey leagues is the best place to start?

This game is going to SUCK the life out of me I can tell.

[erikthered]

Originally Posted by russwg1970

I'm not familiar with what to really do with my scouts in the ECHL. Where should they be scouting? I'm not real familiar with the ECHL, as according to the league settings, there doesn't appear to be a draft of any sort.

I'm assuming the ECHL is for descent Jr. Hockey players that exceeded the age limit for Jr Hockey and get paid a very small salary.

So, I'm sure scouting is pretty important since there isn't a draft... I guess scout the Jr hockey leagues is the best place to start?

This game is going to SUCK the life out of me I can tell.

From your post, it sounds like you are playing as a manager in the ECHL.

The ECHL is basically a AA minor league (AHL is AAA, the highest league under the NHL), with most teams being affiliated with NHL teams. Some players are borderline NHL prospects under contract with their NHL teams that have been sent down through the farm system (similar to baseball). They often also have AHL affiliates, which--as I recall--can send their independently contracted players (players signed by the AHL squad that are not signed with an NHL team) down as well, though I'm not 100% sure about that. So, some of your players will be assigned to you from their NHL team if they don't make the NHL roster. They'll be the guys that have contracts with teams, but have little chance of actually making an NHL roster. The bulk of your players will be guys who become free agents after their time in juniors or college. You're not likely to get too much attention from European players, as they'd rather play in European leagues.

You're probably best off scouting college ranks, juniors, and free agents.

[russwg1970]

Yeah, I went with the Alaska Aces in the ECHL... I should have clarified that.

Ok, that's kind of what I thought.. it was a place for descent Jr. league hockey players to go after they have exceeded the age limit and have some ability.

In the team info for the Aces it say they have no affiliations, which I thought would be a way to get players, as there are only 20 players on the roster. I see a bunch of "free agents" but there aren't any ratings available for them.... I need to figure out how to scout all of them instead of one by one....

I'll play around with it and see what happens, thanks for the help!

[erikthered]

Originally Posted by russwg1970

Yeah, I went with the Alaska Aces in the ECHL... I should have clarified that.

Ok, that's kind of what I thought.. it was a place for descent Jr. league hockey players to go after they have exceeded the age limit and have some ability.

In the team info for the Aces it say they have no affiliations, which I thought would be a way to get players, as there are only 20 players on the roster. I see a bunch of "free agents" but there aren't any ratings available for them.... I need to figure out how to scout all of them instead of one by one....

I'll play around with it and see what happens, thanks for the help!

Yeah, they're one of the handful of teams with no affiliations. That's going to let you have full control over your roster without having to worry about players disappearing to and appearing from the upper affiliates which have first choice at assignment. The downside is that sometimes affiliations let you have guys that are better than average for that league, especially at goalie, without having to pay them.

I don't know how the scouting system works in FHM because I haven't gotten it yet, but I imagine there's some kind of way to assign scouts to specific leagues/nations/regions.

[Gige56]

-You could also send your scouts out to the Federal Hockey League, the Southern Professional Hockey League and Central Hockey League as well as the US colleges in the USA. Ex. with that is in real life the Reading Royals signed G Riley Gill from the Louisiana IceGators
-You could also choose the OHL, QMJHL, and the WHL as well as the CAN colleges in Canada.
I do believe that there is a bug in the game, because the minimum age for a ECHL player is 20 yrs and I was able to sign a 17 yr old in game as the Reading Royals. The signing of players between the lower leagues in the US is a bit puzzling at times and it took my about the first 5 yrs of watching ECHL hockey live t understand it.

[erikthered]

Originally Posted by Gige56

-You could also send your scouts out to the Federal Hockey League, the Southern Professional Hockey League and Central Hockey League as well as the US colleges in the USA. Ex. with that is in real life the Reading Royals signed G Riley Gill from the Louisiana IceGators
-You could also choose the OHL, QMJHL, and the WHL as well as the CAN colleges in Canada.
I do believe that there is a bug in the game, because the minimum age for a ECHL player is 20 yrs and I was able to sign a 17 yr old in game as the Reading Royals. The signing of players between the lower leagues in the US is a bit puzzling at times and it took my about the first 5 yrs of watching ECHL hockey live t understand it.

Good point about the SPHL and CHL.

[russwg1970]

Originally Posted by Gige56

-You could also send your scouts out to the Federal Hockey League, the Southern Professional Hockey League and Central Hockey League as well as the US colleges in the USA. Ex. with that is in real life the Reading Royals signed G Riley Gill from the Louisiana IceGators
-You could also choose the OHL, QMJHL, and the WHL as well as the CAN colleges in Canada.
I do believe that there is a bug in the game, because the minimum age for a ECHL player is 20 yrs and I was able to sign a 17 yr old in game as the Reading Royals. The signing of players between the lower leagues in the US is a bit puzzling at times and it took my about the first 5 yrs of watching ECHL hockey live t understand it.

I'm having a hard time trying to sign free agents in the ECHL as the Alaska Aces... I can propose a deal and "ask for a response" but it won't let me submit the offer. I'm down to 18 total dressed with 4 players injured. I need to sign some players, but I'm likely doing something wrong. Off to bed for now...