Proposal: Playoff Loophole

[24giovanni]

It is about time

NHL General Managers Could Discuss Closing LTIR Playoff "Loophole"

Next week holds in store an NHL general managers' meeting in Manalapan, Florida, and Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reports that …

www.prohockeyrumors.com

Next week holds in store an NHL general managers’ meeting in Manalapan, Florida, and Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the agenda may include a discussion around altering the long-term injured reserve “loophole” used by teams to build legal, but non-salary-cap-compliant rosters for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As it stands, teams are allowed to gain cap relief from players on injured reserve for the end of the regular season before the salary cap disappears for the playoffs, then bringing those players back once healthy for playoff runs. It theoretically allows teams to exceed the hard cap by several millions of dollars during the playoffs due to the salary cap not being in effect at the end of the regular season. Seravalli says at least one general manager has requested that this be included on the meeting’s agenda, with that GM believing “strongly that wasn’t the intended spirit of the CBA when it was written.” It’s a rule that’s been taken advantage of by multiple Stanley Cup-winning teams in the past, including the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 with Nikita Kucherov and the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 with Patrick Kane.

The anonymous general manager cited in the article doesn’t think a complex solution is required to fix this inequity, however. While they don’t advocate for overall financial roster limits, they put forth a proposal that the 20-man roster on the ice for each team during a playoff game can’t exceed the salary cap. This would provide a boost to essentially all playoff teams, considering that during the regular season, any healthy scratches or players on regular injured reserve count against the salary cap as well. It gives teams flexibility, allowing them to make roster decisions freely during the playoffs among healthy players within the constraint of a combined $81.5MM cap hit for the on-ice lineup.

However, as Seravalli notes, any modification to this rule requires negotiation with the NHLPA, as it constitutes a “material change” to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

While no surefire playoff team this season is taking advantage of this loophole in earnest, it was widely assumed the Vegas Golden Knights’ playoff lineup would benefit from this ability due to captain Mark Stone’s long-term back injury that’s expected to keep him out through the regular season. Now, with additional injuries continuing to pile up for the Knights, it’s feasible the team misses the playoffs entirely.

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[EverettMike]

I posted this in February. Going to share it here again because I think it's a good way to deal with this.

1) Allow teams to carry as much salary cap as they want during the postseason. No limits on how many players are on the active NHL roster either.

2) Only allow them to dress a game day roster that does not exceed more than 5% of the salary cap.

3) Do not set a minimum number of skaters that must dress for a playoff game. You want to only have 9 forwards and 5 defensemen? Fine! Good luck. So long as you don't dress more than 105% of the cap you can play as few as you like.

The only caveat there is you must dress two goalies. No relying on an emergency backup to avoid cap compliance.

 

[Blinny]

I posted this in February. Going to share it here again because I think it's a good way to deal with this.

1) Allow teams to carry as much salary cap as they want during the postseason. No limits on how many players are on the active NHL roster either.

2) Only allow them to dress a game day roster that does not exceed more than 5% of the salary cap.

3) Do not set a minimum number of skaters that must dress for a playoff game. You want to only have 9 forwards and 5 defensemen? Fine! Good luck. So long as you don't dress more than 105% of the cap you can play as few as you like.

The only caveat there is you must dress two goalies. No relying on an emergency backup to avoid cap compliance.

This is a pretty good idea. Well thought out!

 

[Forester65]

It is about time

NHL General Managers Could Discuss Closing LTIR Playoff "Loophole"

Next week holds in store an NHL general managers' meeting in Manalapan, Florida, and Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reports that …

www.prohockeyrumors.com

Next week holds in store an NHL general managers’ meeting in Manalapan, Florida, and Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the agenda may include a discussion around altering the long-term injured reserve “loophole” used by teams to build legal, but non-salary-cap-compliant rosters for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As it stands, teams are allowed to gain cap relief from players on injured reserve for the end of the regular season before the salary cap disappears for the playoffs, then bringing those players back once healthy for playoff runs. It theoretically allows teams to exceed the hard cap by several millions of dollars during the playoffs due to the salary cap not being in effect at the end of the regular season. Seravalli says at least one general manager has requested that this be included on the meeting’s agenda, with that GM believing “strongly that wasn’t the intended spirit of the CBA when it was written.” It’s a rule that’s been taken advantage of by multiple Stanley Cup-winning teams in the past, including the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 with Nikita Kucherov and the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 with Patrick Kane.

The anonymous general manager cited in the article doesn’t think a complex solution is required to fix this inequity, however. While they don’t advocate for overall financial roster limits, they put forth a proposal that the 20-man roster on the ice for each team during a playoff game can’t exceed the salary cap. This would provide a boost to essentially all playoff teams, considering that during the regular season, any healthy scratches or players on regular injured reserve count against the salary cap as well. It gives teams flexibility, allowing them to make roster decisions freely during the playoffs among healthy players within the constraint of a combined $81.5MM cap hit for the on-ice lineup.

However, as Seravalli notes, any modification to this rule requires negotiation with the NHLPA, as it constitutes a “material change” to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

While no surefire playoff team this season is taking advantage of this loophole in earnest, it was widely assumed the Vegas Golden Knights’ playoff lineup would benefit from this ability due to captain Mark Stone’s long-term back injury that’s expected to keep him out through the regular season. Now, with additional injuries continuing to pile up for the Knights, it’s feasible the team misses the playoffs entirely.

Vegas is getting a dose of salary cap karma.
Tampa's dose for last year is overdue.
Where is it?!

 

[Sturm und Drang]

I posted this in February. Going to share it here again because I think it's a good way to deal with this.

1) Allow teams to carry as much salary cap as they want during the postseason. No limits on how many players are on the active NHL roster either.

2) Only allow them to dress a game day roster that does not exceed more than 5% of the salary cap.

3) Do not set a minimum number of skaters that must dress for a playoff game. You want to only have 9 forwards and 5 defensemen? Fine! Good luck. So long as you don't dress more than 105% of the cap you can play as few as you like.

The only caveat there is you must dress two goalies. No relying on an emergency backup to avoid cap compliance.

How did you decide on the extra 5%?

 

[Gee Wally]

My opinion is the cap is the cap.

Rich teams ( Leafs, Rags, Habs) shouldnt be allowed to circumvent and buy a championship.

If youre going to do that then eliminate the Cap. Have significant retraction and bring on soccer. At least in the US.

 

[NextBigThing]

I posted this in February. Going to share it here again because I think it's a good way to deal with this.

1) Allow teams to carry as much salary cap as they want during the postseason. No limits on how many players are on the active NHL roster either.

2) Only allow them to dress a game day roster that does not exceed more than 5% of the salary cap.

3) Do not set a minimum number of skaters that must dress for a playoff game. You want to only have 9 forwards and 5 defensemen? Fine! Good luck. So long as you don't dress more than 105% of the cap you can play as few as you like.

The only caveat there is you must dress two goalies. No relying on an emergency backup to avoid cap compliance.

Players Association would laugh their ass off at this lol

 

[Gee Wally]

Players Association would laugh their ass off at this lol

not at #1 or #2.
Especially #1.
Their reason for being is bigger roster and more $ spent.

 

[bbfan419]

My opinion is the cap is the cap.

Rich teams ( Leafs, Rags, Habs) shouldnt be allowed to circumvent and buy a championship.

If youre going to do that then eliminate the Cap. Have significant retraction and bring on soccer. At least in the US.

Agree, if they have a regular season cap, they should one for the playoffs as well.

 

[trenton1]

Part of me really enjoys the undermining of the hard cap, but I just think it's too complicated and at some points there will be too much dishonesty about a player's health and readiness that will lead to a lot of other issues.

I hate the hard cap though. I feel as though there are ways to subsidize while allowing teams to go over sometimes. I'd like a tax system implemented where you can go over the cap and pay a tax but not in consecutive seasons.

 

[EverettMike]

How did you decide on the extra 5%?

I think it's okay to have a reasonable amount of wiggle room because we want to see the best teams and the best players in the post-season, and 5% allows that without giving any team too much of an advantage. Once you start getting to 10% I think things are out of whack.

 

[EverettMike]

Players Association would laugh their ass off at this lol

Why? Under this scenario teams are able to pay out actual dollars that exceed the cap. They just can't dress enough players to exceed the thresh hold. The NHLPA would love that. The NHLPA wants their members getting as much money as possible. The salary cap limits how much they can make.

It's not necessarily easy to do what Tampa has done (and Vegas hopes to do).

 

[NextBigThing]

Why? Under this scenario teams are able to pay out actual dollars that exceed the cap. They just can't dress enough players to exceed the thresh hold. The NHLPA would love that. The NHLPA wants their members getting as much money as possible. The salary cap limits how much they can make.

It's not necessarily easy to do what Tampa has done (and Vegas hopes to do).

Dress only 14 skaters for a playoff game? PA would not go for that at all.

 

[EverettMike]

Dress only 14 skaters for a playoff game? PA would not go for that at all.

That's what you took away from this? Good golly.

 

[24giovanni]

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[jgatie]

Players Association would laugh their ass off at this lol

Player's Association doesn't give a rat's ass about the playoffs because they're not getting paid.

 

[Patdud]

1: If you are on LTIR by game one of the playoffs you cannot be activated
2: A player on LTIR cannot be traded, they must remain on that team till they are healthy enough to ACTUALLY be activated

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I'm sorry but I don't see all the fuss about the "Kucherov rule"...why is it needed?

You really think Tampa didn't want Kucherov in the regular season last year? Or that playing a big portion of the year without a star player makes any sense?

You think players are going to willingly sit out for extended periods of time just to rig the LTIR?

This is nothing more than sour grapes

 

[rocketdan9]

I'm sorry but I don't see all the fuss about the "Kucherov rule"...why is it needed?

You really think Tampa didn't want Kucherov in the regular season last year? Or that playing a big portion of the year without a star player makes any sense?

You think players are going to willingly sit out for extended periods of time just to rig the LTIR?

This is nothing more than sour grapes

Because the team is too "stacked"

And when playoff rolls around...you add a star player??

If it works. The team is unable to be stacked because ... players want raises

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Because the team is too "stacked"

And when playoff rolls around...you add a star player??

If it works. The team is unable to be stacked because ... players want raises

Ok well you still need your superstar to be legitimately injured and have the timing line up so that he's not healthy before the end of the year but ok to go game 1

The league watches LTIR like a hawk and has pretty strict rules about being eligible for it and when it ends.

You're also assuming players will willingly miss seasons

 

[Dr Hook]

I posted this in February. Going to share it here again because I think it's a good way to deal with this.

1) Allow teams to carry as much salary cap as they want during the postseason. No limits on how many players are on the active NHL roster either.

2) Only allow them to dress a game day roster that does not exceed more than 5% of the salary cap.

3) Do not set a minimum number of skaters that must dress for a playoff game. You want to only have 9 forwards and 5 defensemen? Fine! Good luck. So long as you don't dress more than 105% of the cap you can play as few as you like.

The only caveat there is you must dress two goalies. No relying on an emergency backup to avoid cap compliance.

This is solid.

 

[Gee Wally]

 

[PlayMakers]

1: If you are on LTIR by game one of the playoffs you cannot be activated
2: A player on LTIR cannot be traded, they must remain on that team till they are healthy enough to ACTUALLY be activated

That’s the simpler solution to the Kucherov cheat. But it doesn’t completely close the loophole. Vegas knowingly exceeded the cap with Eichel. Their solution wasn’t to cut all that money, but to trade for guys on LTIR so they could use the loophole. They tried to replace a healthy player making $5m with guys on LTIR making $5m so they could remain over the cap. It backfired because of a technicality with Dadonov but Stone could have been activated on the last day and played in the playoffs.

Therr needs to be a mechanism that doesn’t allow you to deliberately exceed the cap with LTIR guys, otherwise it’s a major advantage to the rich teams and defeats the purpose of the cap.

 

[PlayMakers]

Wouldnt this neuter the trade deadline?

The whole reason we don’t see a lot of trades during the season is because teams are banking cap space. You start the season $1m below the cap and by the deadline you can add a $6m player. it works, it’s fair. It doesn’t allow you to exceed the cap... but that goes away if they just add up salaries for each playoff game.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

That’s the simpler solution to the Kucherov cheat. But it doesn’t completely close the loophole. Vegas knowingly exceeded the cap with Eichel. Their solution wasn’t to cut all that money, but to trade for guys on LTIR so they could use the loophole. They tried to replace a healthy player making $5m with guys on LTIR making $5m so they could remain over the cap. It backfired because of a technicality with Dadonov but Stone could have been activated on the last day and played in the playoffs.

Therr needs to be a mechanism that doesn’t allow you to deliberately exceed the cap with LTIR guys, otherwise it’s a major advantage to the rich teams and defeats the purpose of the cap.

Not to be that guy, but so what? There's nothing stopping every other team in the league from doing the same.

Hell, Toronto has taken on dead money and stashed it on LTIR multiple times the last 5 years, no one complained.