Many NHL teams benefit greatly from having a long-term injury list. It enables teams to avoid having their payroll impacted by the large contracts of players who are unable to participate for the majority or all of a season.
The Canadiens are taking advantage of this with Carey Price’s contract, which continues until 2026 despite the fact that he has not played since 2022.
Some organizations take advantage of this by placing talented players with large contracts on the long-term injured list before to the trade deadline. This allows them to build depth for the playoffs while keeping the money available.
And then, suddenly, the injured player is back at the start of the playoffs, with the salary cap no longer an issue. The situations involving Mark Stone and Nikita Kucherov spring to mind.
The good news for NHL fans is that this type of circumstance may soon become a thing of the past. According to Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic, the NHL is looking into the situation.
Chris Tanev’s Iffy Contract Sparks Debate About NHL LTIR Rules https://t.co/myZzvck2Fv#THW #HockeyTwitter
— The Hockey Writers (@TheHockeyWriter) July 30, 2024
According to Duhatschek, NHL executives have requested clubs to look into whether compelling teams to respect the salary cap in the playoffs is a smart idea.
The difficulty is that this was only a debate among NHL executives, and the rule is unlikely to alter until the next collective agreement.
The debate is whether teams should also be fined for contracts that virtually always result in a long-term injury list.
The Maple Leafs, for example, should take advantage of this rule-bending with Chris Tanev’s new contract.
Tanev, 34, has signed a six-year contract for $4.5 million with the Leafs. He’ll be 40 by the end of the contract.
We’d like to believe Tanev will give it his best until the very end, but we doubt he’ll be playing in the NHL until he’s 40. And Tanev is not to blame, because no one else would have offered him such a long deal.
The problem is that Tanev has yet to play a single game for the Maple Leafs, and everyone expects him to be unable to play before the season is out.
In addition to implementing the salary cap regulation in the playoffs, the NHL should have veto power over contracts judged “too at risk of becoming a contract that will end up on the long-term injured list”.
Overtime
Nick Suzuki is one of the NHL’s iron men.
Respect ironman captain Nick Suzuki 🫡 https://t.co/KikXCn3J5y
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 1, 2024
He wants to leave his mark.
Les ambitions new-yorkaises d’Anthony Duclair https://t.co/N3VGdOJnz2
— La Presse Sports (@LaPresse_Sports) August 1, 2024
