LAS VEGAS (AP) — The boos have begun to rain down on the Golden Knights captain Pierre Marc at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, from the first contact with the puck. They did not let up each time the first-round series was played in Dallas.
Stars fans were not happy that the poster child for everything questionable about the functioning of long-term injured reserve was back on the ice just in time for the playoffs.
Again.
No team is more scrutinized than Vegas for how it uses LTIR. To critics and skeptical fans, it looks a lot like salary cap manipulation, even though the NHL has always maintained it’s OK with it.
Stone has been on LTIR each of the last three seasons, which allows the Golden Knights to be about the amount of his salary over the cap until the playoffs begin. The Knights have used that opportunity to acquire players such as Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbachev, Thomas Hertl And Noah HanifinIt was Hanifin’s goal on Friday night that forced a Game 7 against Dallas.
The last two years, after back surgery in 2023 and recovering from a torn spleen this season, Stone was activated off LTIR for the playoff opener.
As many fans around the league roared at the remarkable moment of Stone’s recovery, a smiling Hayley Thompson posed with a fan wearing her husband’s No. 61 jersey with LTIR on the nameplate.
STONE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Vegas isn’t alone in using LTIR to its advantage. PuckPedia’s Hart Levine reported that 69 percent of teams used LTIR this season to go over the cap, which stands at $83.5 million this season. The website that tracks salaries across the league also lists 10 playoff teams that finished the regular season over the cap, with the Toronto Maple Leafs ($14.15 million more) and Tampa Bay Lightning ($10.27 million) topped the list.
Vegas is third with $8.72 million over the cap. The team is drawing attention because it has used LTIR every year to seek out talent at the trade deadline. General manager Kelly McCrimmon took a moment to address the issue before the playoffs began. He said “the NHL is 100 percent involved” in all LTIR matters.
McCrimmon said the league has full access to Stone’s medical information and that NHL doctors have communicated with the Golden Knights’ surgeon and medical staff.
“That’s what makes the system legitimate,” McCrimmon said. “It’s the people who are fully involved in this. I don’t know if the fans or the media understand how much scrutiny these injuries get. We had the same situation with Mark. Ironically, it’s the same player. We talked openly about his surgery a year ago. This year, it was a freak accident.”
Levine stressed that a timeline for Stone’s recovery must be provided to the league and that the process must be documented. He also said parts of the process were open to interpretation.
“The fact that (Stone) is magically healed and ready to play in the first game of the playoffs for the second year in a row obviously leaves a bad taste in everybody’s mouth,” Levine said. “I certainly think it’s a bad image and it leads to frustration among fans, which is important. I don’t think there was anything that was against the rules. Nobody cheated or anything. It’s just using the rules as they are and living in a little bit of a gray area.”
A TEAM OPTION
Chicago star Patrick Kane was placed on the long-term injury list in 2015 with a broken collarbone. The Blackhawks added three players at the trade deadline and he returned in time for the playoffs. The Blackhawks went on to beat the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.
Tampa Bay used the rule to its advantage when Nikita Kucherov missed the pandemic-shortened season due to hip surgery and Steven Stamkos The players were placed on long-term layoffs with lower-body injuries before the trade deadline. Each player returned in time to help the Lightning repeat as champions.
“We had a great season,” Carolina defenseman said Dougie Hamilton “We lost to a team that was $18 million over the salary cap,” the general manager said in 2021 after the Hurricanes were eliminated by Tampa Bay in the second round.
Fans have accused the Blackhawks and Lightning of circumventing the salary cap, much like the criticism of Vegas in recent years.
ARE ADJUSTMENTS NEEDED?
It’s unclear whether the league and NHL Players’ Association will discuss the issue again this summer, though the topic is on the radar. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said there hasn’t been a groundswell of opposition to change so far.
Levine said there are possible solutions, such as limiting the replacement to only 50% of the annual salary lost by a team that exceeds the cap. He added that things need to be simplified; the amount of salary released depends on a complicated formula that is not spelled out in the collective bargaining agreement.
“It’s in the memos and verbal discussions with the league,” Levine said. “There are a lot of people in management who deal with the salary cap but don’t really have a good grasp of all the intricacies.”
He said no other major sports league uses this type of system where an injury can end up benefiting a team when the playoffs begin.
“I would say there’s definitely a possibility of change because I think it’s pretty embarrassing for the league,” Levine said.
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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.
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NHL Playoffs according to AP: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
