Deep enough to matter.
Simple enough to play.

League Structure

IceCore Dynasty consists of 20 permanent franchises.

Each General Manager controls the sporting direction of a franchise across multiple seasons. Franchises retain their identity, history, records and long-term assets regardless of who manages them.

Yahoo Fantasy is the official platform for scoring, matchups, standings, player statistics, transactions and playoffs.

Reserve & Development Slots

IceCore uses 3 IR+ positions for injured players and 5 NA positions for eligible prospects and inactive players.

IR+ and NA positions exist outside the 20-player active roster and do not increase the number of players selected during the Salary Cap Draft.

The five NA positions form each franchise's in-season development space. Players held there may become eligible for offseason Development Keeper protection.

Regular Keepers

Every franchise protects between 11 and 15 regular keepers before the new season.

Regular Keepers may be selected only from players belonging to the franchise's active roster or IR+ at the end of the previous season.

Players held in NA positions are not part of the regular keeper group. They are handled separately through Development Keepers.

Protecting more players preserves roster continuity but commits more salary and leaves fewer opportunities in the live market.

Protecting fewer players creates more roster openings and greater Salary Cap Draft flexibility.

Different franchises may therefore enter the offseason with very different roster structures while operating under the same 500-coin Salary Cap.

Development Keepers

Every franchise must protect between one and three players from its previous-season NA farm.

Development Keeper eligibility is based on the player having been held by the franchise in an NA position at the end of the previous season.

A selected Development Keeper remains eligible for protection even if Yahoo changes his NA status before the following season.

Development Keepers enter the new roster at 1 coin.

The five NA slots available during the season provide development space. They are not five automatic additional offseason keepers. A maximum of three players from that group may be protected.

Any NA player who is not selected as a Development Keeper is released into the player pool for the following season.

Entry Draft

Beginning with the 2027 offseason, each franchise receives one selection in the annual IceCore Entry Draft.

Draft order is determined by reverse final standings. There is no lottery, and Entry Draft selections cannot be traded.

Each General Manager may submit a ranked rookie priority list before the published deadline. When a franchise is on the clock, the highest-ranked available player on that list will be selected.

Submitting a priority list is optional. If no list is submitted, the franchise will automatically receive the highest available eligible player according to the real-world NHL Draft order.

Entry Draft selections enter their IceCore franchise at a salary of 1 Coin.

Rookie Lists & Yahoo Availability

Managers may submit their rookie preferences before the announced Entry Draft deadline.

If a GM does not submit a list, the franchise remains in the draft. Its default ranking follows the real-world order of players selected in the first round of the relevant NHL Draft.

Missing the Entry Draft priority-list deadline does not result in a league penalty. The default NHL Draft order will be used automatically.

If an Entry Draft selection is not yet available in Yahoo when offseason rosters are prepared, the franchise retains exclusive rights to that rookie.

The Commissioner may temporarily use an eligible player from the franchise's development group as a roster placeholder. Once the selected rookie becomes available in Yahoo, the placeholder is removed and the rookie is assigned to the franchise at his standard 1-coin salary.

A temporary placeholder does not create additional player rights, salary or keeper protection.

Salary Escalation

Salaries increase whenever a regular player is protected for another season. Exceptional performance and exceptional value accelerate the increase.

Every regular keeper receives a base increase of +5. A Top 100 player receives +10. A Top 100 player whose previous salary is 20 coins or less receives +15.

Free Agents, Waivers & Existing Salaries

A player entering the IceCore player economy without an established salary is acquired from free agency or waivers at 0 coins.

If that 0-coin player is protected for the following season, normal escalation applies.

A player who already carries an IceCore salary does not become a new 0-coin asset simply because another franchise released him.

His established salary remains the basis for future keeper cost, followed by the normal offseason escalation.

Offseason Roster Construction

Every franchise builds its 20-player opening roster through four sources.

The exact number of Live Salary Cap Draft positions depends on how many regular and Development Keepers a franchise protects.

A franchise may therefore preserve most of its organization or reopen a larger part of its roster to the live market while remaining under the same 500-coin Salary Cap.

Once Yahoo opens post-draft roster management, eligible prospects may be moved to NA positions. Any resulting active roster openings are filled through the normal player market.

Live Salary Cap Draft

After regular keepers, Development Keepers and Entry Draft rookies have been assigned, all remaining active roster positions are filled through Yahoo's Live Salary Cap Draft.

Every franchise operates under the same 500-coin cap, but committed salaries are deducted before the draft.

Every GM therefore enters the same live market with a roster and budget shaped by previous franchise decisions.

Trades

Players may be traded according to the current league calendar and Yahoo transaction settings.

Player salary always travels with the player. IceCore does not use salary retention or transfers of Salary Cap coins between franchises.

Entry Draft selections cannot be traded.

Deadlines & Fallbacks

IceCore is designed so that one unavailable GM cannot stop a league-wide offseason process.

Keeper selections, rookie lists and other mandatory submissions must be provided through the designated league channel before the announced deadline.

If a valid keeper list is not submitted, the GM receives a warning and the Commissioner will construct the franchise's keeper group from its eligible players.

The fallback selection begins with the highest-performing eligible players and continues until the required keeper structure is complete, while respecting the franchise's 500-coin Salary Cap.

Regular Keeper selections are limited to eligible active-roster and IR+ players. Development Keeper selections are limited to players held in the franchise's NA farm at the end of the previous season.

If no rookie ranking is submitted, the franchise receives a default ranking based on the actual order of the relevant NHL first round.

Commissioner fallbacks preserve the league schedule. They are not used to optimize an absent GM's franchise.

GM Responsibilities

IceCore is a GM-first league. Managers are responsible for building and maintaining their franchise rather than constantly managing daily fantasy lineups.

GMs are expected to complete the league's limited mandatory offseason decisions, respect deadlines, prepare for drafts, respond to roster problems and remain reasonably active during the season.

Missing a mandatory deadline may result in a warning. Repeated missed obligations, prolonged inactivity or abandonment of a franchise may result in replacement of the General Manager.

Abandoned Franchises

A franchise exists independently of its current General Manager.

If a GM leaves, the franchise retains its roster, salaries, prospects, history, records, awards and Entry Draft position.

The Commissioner may temporarily operate the franchise until a replacement GM is appointed.

Temporary management exists to maintain the roster, meet required deadlines and preserve competitive integrity — not to strategically rebuild the franchise for its future manager.

Competitive Integrity

Managers are free to rebuild, contend, speculate on prospects, overpay for stars, sell established players or pursue unconventional roster strategies.

Collusion, coordinated roster dumping, waiver manipulation or actions intended primarily to provide an unfair advantage to another franchise may be reviewed by the Commissioner.

Bad strategy is allowed.
Collusion is not.

Competition

Yahoo Fantasy is the authoritative source for scoring, matchups, standings, player statistics and playoff qualification.

IceCore uses a Head-to-Head Points competition format. Detailed scoring values, dates, transaction limits and season-specific settings are maintained in the official Yahoo league settings.

The winner of the championship playoffs becomes the IceCore Cup Champion.

Franchise History & League Legacy

IceCore records franchise history across seasons.

Championships, conference titles, regular-season performance, draft history and other achievements become part of each franchise's permanent record.

General Managers may also earn league honors and historical recognition based on competitive success, activity, reliability and contribution to the league.

These records form IceCore's history. They do not alter Yahoo scoring or competitive results.