Don’t Punish NHL Players to Close LTIR Loophole
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.