Invite all prospects to training camp-It is hard to believe that some GM's do not do this. You don't have to sign them, they remain as RFA's after camp. It is imperative that you invite ALL of them to training camp. This will do 2 important things. They will all get some experience, and sometimes, just sometimes, a low rated prospect will get a lot better from just being there, they don't even have to play!
The other really important thing is, when you draft a player, his training is set on 'rest' by default, that isn't good. If you have him at camp, his training will be changed to something more productive to the player.
Do not sign your prospects unless they will play-This is a really important point, a lot of people sign them and then return them to junior, this is pointless. They remain as RFA's if you do not sign them, so why do it? You can gain a few benefits by leaving them as RFA's until they play.
Example 1 is that when a player is signed and then returned to junior, he cannot be called back up until the next season. If the player is unsigned, he can be signed at any point in the season to bring him up, neat trick huh?
Example 2 is that the player is not going to be contributing to your team, so why pay him if you don't have to?(and you don't!) The contract will expire and he will just want more money! To keep your prospect contracts low, do not sign them until they will be on your AHL or NHL team.
Ticket prices- Does anyone pay attention to these at all? Most of you right now are going, "doh! I forgot about them!". This is a simple way to keep your money flowing. If you are attracting fans every game, raise them, if you are having trouble getting fans, lower them. How can you find out if fans are coming? After a game is played in your stadium, double click the game score, this will bring up a wealth of info on that game, including attendance.
Training %'s-Your league may have auto training, but you still have to set who runs the programs and the resources for them. Don't forget this simple tidbit.
Budget increases, how to get them-Everyone knows no matter what market your team is, big or small, you have to manage your money wisely. Once you have mastered a set ticket price limit that makes you money and draws fans, you need to look at your finances. If you are in the green, look at your payroll. This is found on the team info tab. There are 2 numbers, the first one is your teams budget for players, the one in brackets is the teams actual payroll. Some people think they need to be under the budget, this is wrong. If your team is under budget, you will not get an increase in payroll.
At the end of the year, all money you make over 5 milllion will be collected by the "shareholders" or is it the "board"? Either way, these fictional people take away all of your hard earned money, and for what? Doesn't it mean anything? I am here to tell you it does. Let's say you make 7 million over the year, so you have 12 million total. To make that extra 7 million count, you have to aim to get your budget increased. If you are making money, at some point in the season a news article will appear saying something to the effect of, "board considering budget increase". If you are under budget at the end of the year, they will not increase it, because you didn't even use the budget they gave you, and you demonstrated that you can keep it under. You have to be over budget and making money to get an increase. This can lead to disaster, but it is a chance you take, it is best to be just barely over budget when aiming for that increase, especially if you are a small market team.
