NHL seeks to eliminate playoff 'loophole'
The use of long-term injured reserve (LTIR) has been for years a highly debated topic in the NHL. As there is no salary cap in the post-season, this technicality allows contending teams to exploit the salary cap and assemble the best possible playoff roster.
In addition, Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov was out for the entire 2020-21 regular season, before making a full-recovery for the playoffs. Finally, Vegas' Mark Stone then performed a similar miraculous recovery, just in time for the 2023 playoffs - all 3 teams would go on to win the Stanley Cup, with each player mentioned playing a significant role.
Bill Daly, the NHL's Deputy Commissioner, told The Athletic's Pierre Lebrun in May, that both the NHLPA and NHL have agreed to 'tweek' the 'loophole'.
Ron Hainsey, the NHLPA's Executive Director, added his thoughts on Wednesday, ahead of game 1 of the finals between Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, per Athletic's Chris Johnston.
"I don't want to get too into one team or another, but obviously it's an issue that the league has made a priority for them, right? And we continue to discuss a mechanism to deal with that, right? And I think there is some evidence that it's being used more and more, right? When it was one every couple of years, that was one thing."
The issue will be addressed by the NHL and NHLPA in the next collective bargaining agreement, Hainsey added. The current CBA expires September 26. It seems the two parties are getting closer to agreeing to an extension.
In 2022, then-Oilers' GM Ken Holland suggested a fix to the problem, saying that the playoff roster for each individual playoff game should fit under the salary cap.
The salary cap is expected to increase in each of the next three seasons, giving teams sufficient time to reconfigure their rosters should the NHL adapt Ken Holland's, or some similar policy.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 6 | 20 ANSWERS NHL seeks to eliminate playoff 'loophole' Should the post-season include a salary cap? | ||
| Yea | 13 | 65 % |
| No | 7 | 35 % |
| List of polls | ||