Roster Expansion?

And if you’re wondering about the timestamp, I woke up early and wrote this before I had to get ready for school. Also, I’m thankful that Japers’ Rink has very knowledgable commenters who can hopefully give me some insight.

I can’t see it working for the very reasons you noted above. The AHL teams need the players to fill out a roster for a season that runs almost identically to the NHl season.

One problem is that bringing more players up to the active roster increases the salary cap hit. Teams close to the floor won’t mind but teams that are tight just won’t be able to add payroll to the team. Another problem is that unlike baseball hockey doesn’t have a ton of guy to just sit on the bench and watch the game. Everyone that dresses plays at least some of the game. You don’t have the luxury of dressing 3 extra right handed D just in case you need to throw one out there late in the game.

all the reasons above plus any nhl team in the thick of a playoff hunt isn’t going to want to call-up some AHLers to provide them the push to get in the playoffs. As the season gets closer to the end (and you’re a good team), lines become more set and TOI is harder to come by for the 4th line. If you’re a bad team, at the end of the season you’re playing you’re 3rd and 4th lines more, plus already calling a few up due to “injuries” on the pro squad.

The baseball minor league seasons end when the do because of the Sept 1 call up rule.

In actuality, once the playoffs start and once the farm team’s playoffs end, an NHL team can call up any number of players… The Caps had two farm clubs win their league titles, so they never really had a chance to bring up players.

Considering the depth of this organization, it would not surprise me to see Hershey go deep in the playoffs this season.

I also don’t see how you would get any benefit that the team isn’t already able to do. The Caps already have a tradition of putting together a team of “Black Aces” when they are in the playoffs and their AHL team isn’t. And nothing kept the Caps from calling up players from Hershey last year during the playoffs.

If you’re just expanding a roster so you can have more healthy scratches, there’s no real benefit. And if you’re expanding beyond 20 active players per game (12 F, 6 D, 2 G), I think that would cause some big changes in gametime strategy and I don’t think it’s what you had in mind (though I could be wrong).

Per the CBA:

16.4 Active Roster Size; Playing Roster.

(a) For the 2005/06 League Year and thereafter, there shall be a maximum of
twenty-three (23) Players on each Club’s Active Roster at any one time, provided,
however, that, on the date of each season’s Trade Deadline, a Club’s Active Roster may be increased to any number of Players the Club, in its discretion, so determines, subject to Article 50 hereof.

Yep. All very good points. The logistics and roster/call-up rules of hockey would make roster expansion nearly impossible and mostly unnecessary, as well as impractical.