[BlackIce]

I do play with some personal rules myself as it's always easy or very tempting to make deals that would otherwise never happen or your entire lineup goes from authentic NHL rosters to looking like a unrealistic swiss cheese and a possibly overpowered organization in less than a season.

Here is what I usually challenge myself with:

First Rule: Limit of 1 trade until Deadline Day MAX / Waiver wire pickups are at 2 per season

* A week leading up to or trade deadline day, I reward myself with adding (1) more trade for a total of (2) if I haven't burned my maximum before deadline. I will then allow myself to bring in either 2 Players via trades for playoff contention. If I have exhausted my (1) transaction during the season then I will only make "ONE" transaction for deadline.

- Player(s) acquired must be UFA'S at seasons end
- Player(s) traded must be UFA'S at season end and can only be dealt for picks or prospects ONLY
- Waiver players added to the organization do NOT count against my personal trade cap

Second Rule

Honor all contracts.. period! If I resign players during the season, I keep'em for that duration. If they are signed for more than a year, (two or three+ years) I can't revisit any type of trade involving them until ONE full year as accrued on they're contract.

Third Rule

July 1st UFA allows me to sign anyone I want too. I have no rules here for myself other than looking at long-term consequences if I get greedy and get myself in a mess with logjams in my lineups. This is why RULE 2 is so important to me.

Thats it! Those are some personal rules I set out for myself during the season and i basically work with what i got to some extent. When a player is acquired it add's much more excitement for me as I really double-triple evaluate if player(s) are worth the cost and WILL they fit in ? Cheers!