to be fair your conference was pretty weak. thats gonna benefit you next year because you should have and easy road to the finals again next year. My team really benefited from spending 5 or 6 years in DIII. i was able to train guys however i wanted while still being good enough to make the playoffs and usually win a game. i slowly built my arena up, while training the guys i drafted and signing canadian players.
I think your better off drafting and developing your own players in the long run instead of going to the TL especailly if your a new player or plan on sticking around for mulitple seasons. I wish i saved up so more money because new year i would have set myself up alot better. Now next season looks like it will be quite the struggle because i spent money like a idiot early on when i should have 700k to a mil saved up.