Don’t Punish NHL Players to Close LTIR Loophole
For the second straight year, the Vegas Golden Knights placed captain Mark Stone on long-term injury reserve, freeing up his $9.5 million cap hit to bolster their roster at the trade deadline.
Stone was sidelined last season by back surgery, returning for the start of playoffs and leading his team to the Stanley Cup. This time, he’s out with a lacerated spleen. There is no timeline for his return but it seems unlikely he’ll be back for the start of the playoffs.
Conspiracy theorists among NHL followers accused the Golden Knights of cheating, overlooking the fact that every team can and has availed themselves of LTIR to garner salary-cap flexibility at any time during the regular season and offseason. It’s within the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.
Some teams acquire the contracts of players all but retired to career-ending injuries to free up cap room to boost their rosters or re-sign a star. Budget-conscious clubs have done so to ensure they reach the salary-cap floor.
Most of the complaints, however, are aimed at playoff contenders putting a sidelined player on LTIR and using the savings to add depth to their rosters before the playoffs, with the injured player returning at the start of the postseason.
As The Athletic’s Michael Russo observed, it’s a complaint that goes back to the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, when winger Nikita Kucherov missed the entire regular season recovering from offseason hip surgery. It also dates back to 2014-15 when Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane missed the rest of the regular season with a broken collarbone.
Like the Golden Knights with Stone, the Lightning and Blackhawks placed Kucherov and Kane on LTIR, using the cap savings to add depth to their rosters. Both stars returned for the start of the playoffs and helped their teams win the Stanley Cup.
That’s sparked calls in some circles for changes to LTIR rules to prevent teams from legally circumventing the salary cap. It was discussed at this week’s meeting of NHL general managers and will likely be on the agenda when they meet again in September.
NHL general managers can discuss proposed changes to the LTIR rules. However, they won’t be able to do anything about it until the next round of collective bargaining between the league and the NHL Players Association in 2025-26.
Russo suggested perhaps a rule extending the salary cap into the playoffs. Another was a player on LTIR not being healthy to play in the final game of the regular season being ineligible to play at the start of the postseason.
There’s a greater likelihood of Russo’s first suggestion being implemented than his second one. The NHLPA will fight that one tooth and nail because it’ll be seen as unfairly punishing a player for an injury.
If you’re talking about one game, it’s almost pointless if the player in question can return for the rest of the playoffs. But if you’re talking about the entirety of the opening round, I don’t see any team or its fans taking that well.
Most folks who complain about LTIR don’t like it unless it benefits their team. Then, they’re only too happy to point out how other teams do the same thing.
It’s worth remembering that the NHL had the opportunity to negotiate changes to LTIR during CBA negotiations in 2012 and 2020. It wasn’t a pressing issue for them back then.
Whether any major changes are implemented in the next round of CBA negotiations remains to be seen. It’s probably not a hill that the NHL will want to die on.
If you have to abide by the salary cap all year,why not make it apply for the playoffs!
Because players are only paid during the regular season, not in the playoffs.
What are the playoff shares for the playoffs? Is it like the other pro sports? Do the players on the Presidents trophy team get bonuses?
Presidents’ Trophy winner — $500,000
First round losers — $2 million ($250,000 each to eight teams)
Second round losers — $2 million ($500,000 each to four teams)
Third round losers — $2.5 million ($1.25 million each to two teams)
Stanley Cup Finalist — $2.25 million
Stanley Cup Champion — $3.75 million
https://thehockeywriters.com/nhl-player-playoff-compensation/#:~:text=Come%20the%20playoffs%2C%20players%20are,and%20winning%20the%20Stanley%20Cup.
I agree with the idea of extending the cap into the playoffs. The, again, I hate wild cards, so who knows.
It’s easy to say, do nothing; nothing shouldn’t be an option.
Vegas is not the only team using ltir. You can add Toronto, Colorado, and Montreal.
Doesn’t matter I’d the player us or isn’t coming back. The fact is these teams are using funds that are allocated to other players.
Simple fix is the Salary Cap applies in the playoff. Regardless is there is no pay cheque.
It’s easy to say “simple fix is the salary cap applied in the playoffs”. Getting the NHLPA to agree to it during collective bargaining is another matter. If they belief it will prevent players from skating in the playoffs, they’ll fight it and probably win. It’s not something I think the league wants to make an issue worth locking out the players over.
I started typing a long-winded response to Lyle. He might remember that I’ve been fired up about this LTIR garbage for a while now.
However, I erased it. And I will go with this:
The Salary Cap, and “actual money paid to players” are two entirely different things. Or can be.
“The Salary Cap, and “actual money paid to players” are two entirely different things. Or can be.”
Yes, “actual salary” is different from the salary cap. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take away from the fact that players are paid during the regular season but not in the playoffs. The NHLPA might not accept players not being allowed to play in the postseason for LTIR reasons when they’re not being paid during the playoffs.
But surely there’s some sort of work-around, right?
Maybe the players continue to get paid in the playoffs as they would normally be paid, whether they are actually playing or not? That keeps money in the players pockets, and puts the integrity back in the game. In effect, you’re icing an $81mil team, but paying (for the playoffs), a $90 mil team? Not sure the owners would go for that, but I don’t see the NHLPA having a problem with it.
Also, you’ll have to help me understand the current scenario: if there’s a finite amount of playoff money per team, why would the NHLPA care either way? Say, the Leafs get a $250,000 share. As long as that’s distributed, why would the NHLPA care TO WHOM it is distributed? I think I’m missing something.
It comes down to restricting a player from returning to work. The PA will fight against any attempt to prevent a player from skating in the postseason tooth and nail. As I said before, they’ll claim the NHL is punishing a player for getting hurt. I’m sure that violates labor laws in the United States and Canada. The last thing the NHL would want is the US National Labor Relations Board getting involved.
There could be some kind of workaround provide the PA is willing to agree to it. Any suggestion that this would prevent players from playing in the playoffs when the players aren’t getting paid won’t fly with them.
Well maybe just an adjustment on how much Ltir you can use might work.
Seems like an “easy” fix😳.
Lose an 8 million dollar player you only get 4 million to play with.
Just might get some stars back into games a little earlier(wink wink). They are after all what we pay our money to see.
Seems like an easy fix
The LTIR issue is there because the league puta lipstick on a pig and insists that it isn’t.
LTIR and cap makes sense in that without it a team is seriously impacted by the injury without recourse so making an exception to the cap in this way makes sense.
We have also witnessed how players who miss the start of the season due to injury or contract dispute and are unable to skate and practice with the team are slow to come up to speed.
A player on LTIR who is unable to play, practice, participate with the team (since they have been replaced) cannot realistically step into the playoffs cold and be impactful.
If they ARE, then clearly the guy has been biding his time working out with and practicing with the team waiting for the opportune time to rejoin the team.
Fans know it, GMs know it, NHLPA knows it but the league plays Sergeant Schultz.
So ur thinking is easy fix would solve this ltir problem put salary cap in the playoffs but here the thing u do u potentially could hurt trade deadline day cause it be harder to make trades people whine about unless it’s helps ur team leave it teams used for years take the good with the bad and move on
The easy fix nobody is talking about…get rid of the salary cap.
There. All fixed.
Nobody can build a dynasty team anymore. Parity is not a bad idea. But the cap exist because of teams in bad market locations.
Move those teams and drop the cap. Then it will be a self resolving issue. Teams will pony up for good players in a market that will reward them for doing so. Gary Bettmans pet project in Phoenix and in other locations has failed and its time to stop punishing the rest of the league for it.
We are complaining about a loophole in a rule that shouldn’t exist in the first place.
Yeah, good luck with that. The salary cap is Bettman’s legacy. Apart from hiccups like LTIR, the team owners are fine with the cap. It’s not going anywhere.
I don’t think it will happen either.
But sometimes the elephant in the room should at least have its existence acknowledged.
The league was better before the salary cap.
This guy gets it. If a cap is a must, then some of its shortcomings should be corrected…I mean by now we have seen some issues where the cap handicaps both big and small market teams.
But right now the cap is just a mechanism to cut payroll expenses for billionaire team owners. I feel if you’re team is wallowing at the bottom of the standings, the cap will insure your team stays there for years and with luck, your team will make tiny steps to improvement. Teams like the Wild and Jackets come to mind among teams not really benefiting from the cap.
Sorry Lyle, but I have to disagree with you on this. Players absolutely should be held accountable for their part in the LTIR/salary cap shenanigans. By hiding behind HIPPA and the CBA, and misleading folks about their injuries, they are, in effect, aiding in the commission of fraud. Yes, it is, within the rules of the NHL, legal for them to do so, but let’s not confuse the word legal with moral, ethical, or doing the right thing. Outside of the NHL, they would be guilty of being an accomplice to the commission of fraud, and we shouldn’t use the CBA to negate the fact that it is the wrong thing to do.
“Sorry Lyle, but I have to disagree with you on this. Players absolutely should be held accountable for their part in the LTIR/salary cap shenanigans. By hiding behind HIPPA and the CBA, and misleading folks about their injuries, they are, in effect, aiding in the commission of fraud.”
Bold accusation there, Iago. Where is your proof? You’re accusing the players and the teams of committing fraud by misleading the league and the fans about their injuries without a shred of proof to substantiate that claim.