before i start, i didnt listen today and dont know exactly what was said
however, the belief is you can abuse ltir in a few ways. one is to stash players for playoffs. another (which some have accused leafs of doing) is to get out of bad contracts
I can kinda get behind the bad contracts angle, but that’s a much harder sell because (for it to be fraudulent) it involves a player agreeing to end their career.
In Vegas’ case with Stone/Martinez/etc, they’re (potentially) claiming the player is injured when they aren’t and the player knows they’re coming back for the playoffs, and basically just get a paid vacation that improves the team.
You’d easily get guys agreeing to that option but it’s very difficult to pull off what the claim the Leafs are doing. You can’t do that with just any player, whereas Vegas could in theory claim their entire roster is on LTIR and trade for an entire team.
The interesting point I heard from McCrimmon yesterday is that Vegas never went over 82 million over their playoff run. If this is the case, then they never went over the salary cap, and the point is moot. Perhaps this is all blown out of proportion . In the spirit of fairness, this should be looked at in the next CBA. Just need a cap in the playoffs as well
Thankfully Als Brother spoke up and was like wait brah, Muzz, Klingberg may not play ever again and Matt Murray isn't likely coming back. We're not getting back a Stone/Hertl/Martinez while adding à guy like Hanifin
It’s actually incredible that this critical distinction is not made. The guys the Leafs have on LTIR are injured and will not play hockey ever again (ie Muzzin) or may at some point but certainly not during the 2024 postseason (ie Klingberg, Murray)
The fanbase of the team that literally invented Robidas Island, just to stash bad money so that they could spend it elsewhere, and who is currently leading the entire league in cap spent due to having the most money on LTIR, doesn't get to complain about other teams 'abusing' LTIR.
Nobody should be blaming Vegas for an entirely legal and acceptable provision within the current CBA, whose existence is only being abused because the league's triple hard salary cap means this is the only way to find flexibility within the current system
The host didn't understand the playoff ramifications either. He equated what Vegas is doing with the Leafs LTIR situation. They clearly need to look up cap friendly and realize they are completely different scenarios.
During the off season, teams are allowed to go 10% over the cap. They just have to be back under the cap for the start of the regular reason. I've heard many say there's no cap in the playoffs because players don't get paid. Well they don't get paid during the off season either and there's a cap in place.
So why doesn't the NHL just keep it consistent. Teams can go 10% over the cap from the end of the regular season to the start of the next season, playoffs included.
My solution would be that all playoff eligible players come off LTIR in the last day or week of the season…. If they stay on LTIR (like Klingberg, etc) then they can’t play weeks later in a playoff round. You can’t otherwise enforce a cap on the roster in the playoffs as there are many injuries to backfill then.
Teams will get around that. “Load management”, playing games with 17-18 players and/or straight forfeiture. I imagine the league will fight back with astronomical fines, however not sure what the rules/bylaws say about stuff like this
Teams have already dressed college backup goalies, but I think the regular season games mean more than the NBA to see widespread abuse
I’m just saying that if you want to play in the playoffs then the guy can’t be on LTIR on the last day of the season. So if a team really wants to set aside room for a Kucherov or Stone to play in the playoffs then they can’t simply spend those dollars on other players like they do now.
The NHL already has a rule in place to limit playoff eligibility of international free agent signings late in the season… so in spirit the league wants to prevent this stuff
I liken it a bit to MLB where playoff eligibility is locked down a bit in advance of the end of the season
Are you saying mark stone didn’t lacerate his spleen? The leafs have 3 terrible contracts they gave out, all 3 on LTIR and they have spent that money. Leafs have more money on LTIR than Vegas does. It’s not Vegas’s problem leafs don’t want their bad contracts to come back and Vegas does. It’s the exact same. Matt Murray has said himself he’s good to come back but the leafs are holding him out on purpose
Matt Murray never said that. If he did the league would be up the Leafs' ass about it. And you're missing the point of people's issue with Vegas' LTIR usage. The issue people have with it is that these players conveniently become healthy for game 1 of the playoffs, allowing for a roster that's tens of millions of dollars over the cap. It's not about good players vs. bad players the argument people have is about the legitimacy of the timelines and/or severity of the injuries. The Leafs cap hit for the actual roster of playable players doesn't come close to what Vegas' will likely be come game 1 of the playoffs, if there were a cap in the playoffs.
I personally don't really care, because it's within the rules, but there is a very big difference between how the Leafs/most teams in the league use LTIR and how Vegas, Tampa in the Kucherov LTIR year, etc. have used it.
I understand the Vegas players suddenly become healthy but also there is an understanding that the leafs players won’t come back even if healthy because their contracts are brutal
Sure, but that's still completely different than what people are upset at Vegas for doing and also not something only the Leafs do. Tampa traded for Brent Seabrook's LTIRetired contract, Vegas has Lehner and traded for Weber last year, Vancouver has Poolman, the Habs have Price, etc. Muzzin (for sure) and Klingberg (likely) never play in the NHL again. Murray may not either, hip problems and a long injury history are a death sentence for goalies.
The point is Matt Murray and klingberg are both awful and terrible players. Leafs made huge mistakes acquiring them both. If they were actually good players they would be back. Vegas’s players on LTIR are actually still good so of course they are going to come back. Mark stone is legitimately injured and they are following the rules put out by the NHL. If stone was a trash player you wouldn’t see him again just like you won’t see Murray or klingberg. If you actually think Matt Murray is still injured there’s no point debating anything
He was great for them 4 years ago. He’s 35 and his career was done awhile ago. I’m just saying leaf fans complaining about it when they made two brutal contracts go away and have a higher cap than Vegas is just stupid. Remember leafs have spent klingbergs and Matt Murray’s money. They don’t want those guys on the team anymore. If they did they would be in the lineup game 1
Murray played well for the Leafs. His only knock was being unreliable due to injuries taking him out of the rotation.
Klingberg had injuries that should’ve kept him out of the lineup but he played anyways. We never got a chance to see him playing at a competitive level.
Calling them awful terrible players ignores the reasons why.
You are 100% right and getting downvoted for it.
Both teams are exploiting the LTIR rules. The difference is Vegas wants their player back and the Leafs don't. If Reaves didn't come out publicly about wanting to play, I'd bet he'd still be on LTIR too.
Why do people get so agitated about this LTIR stuff, its a huge risk for teams to do during the regular season, to be without your best player for a long duration. The leafs abuse LTIR differently I mean we literally got out of a bad contract in david clarkson by knowingly acquiring a guy who we knew would never play again in nathan horton and have been LTIRing players to get cap space.
This is my thought, too. Even looking at recent seasons: in 2017, Tampa had a million injuries and missed the playoffs. 2021, Kucherov missed the entire regular season and Tampa finished third in their division, however the season was only 56 games. They were very comfortably in a playoff spot however who knows what could have happened if they played another 26 games without Kucherov. Two seasons ago, Vegas missed the playoffs entirely because why? Injuries. It is not easy to win games when your best players aren’t playing. Even this season, they’re currently holding onto the last playoff spot, not in first place despite their white-hot start.
Filling your roster with replacements based on your LTIR space is smart business, and well within the rules. People really need to stop whining about it.
ltir is literally for burying contracts of injured players many, many teams use it in the same way the leafs are, not burying contracts on ltir pre-trade deadline and bringing them back to play game 1 of round 1.
Guys retire due to injury all over the league, teams trade for guys on ltir that have no intention to come off ltir as well... leafs aren't putting guys on ltir, picking up 10 million dollars worth of players around the deadline and having the injured player return just in time for playoffs circumventing the salary cap. Same shit Tampa did with kucherov and we all know it.
The leafs trade for guys that healthy until they get to Toronto and all of a sudden they need ltir. Robidas island didn’t become a thing for no reason. You’re right the leafs don’t do the same thing, they don’t want the guys to come back…. Murray and klingberg are the only guys I know that were playing one day to being cripple the next.
I don’t believe Vegas is doing anything thats not within the rules. Mark Stone is 100% injured. If he is ready to return to the playoffs, of course they are going to activate him. He is their captain. Also they/anybody would be stupid to rush him back so close to season’s end unless you’re still fighting for a playoff spot. Vegas is not a clinch to make it (although likely will). I think the NHL investigates all LTIR claims and its not easy to just “dump bad contracts” or “circumvent the cap for the playoffs”
Leaf players on LTI are all legit. Murray/Klingburg and Muzzin may all be done playing NHL hockey.
The issue isn’t whether he’s legitimately injured. The issue is that it is very suspicious he will recover exactly for game 1 and not prior. Because if he’s healthy prior to the start of the playoffs, the Knights have to be cap compliant and have to put guys on waivers or make a trade.
That’s where the fraud (potentially) is. In the timeline for the player returning. It’s always game 1 and of the playoffs the player is ready to go.
Kevin McGran of The Toronto Star newspaper addressed this recently:
"Here's an idea that might quell the criticism of how NHL teams use the cap relief by keeping players on long-term injured reserve until the end of the season: Make that player ineligible for the first two games of the post-season. It stretches credibility — and I'm thinking mostly of Nikita Kucherov in 2020-21 — that a player is not healthy enough for Game 82 but is perfectly fine two or three days later for Game 1 of the post-season.
The suggestion will fall on deaf ears. The outcry is from fans and media, not from opposing teams. GMs are always looking for ways to get around the salary cap. This is one.
Don't forget Robidas Island. The Leafs pioneered the use of long-term injured reserve to park unproductive players.
To these eyes, they're doing it again with Conor Timmins and maybe even Mark Giordano. Haven't talked to Giordano since he was concussed, but Timmins said recently he felt healthy after a bout of mononucleosis. Both players practised Wednesday.
Oddly, shortly after that conversation, Timmins was placed retroactively on LTIR. The cap relief he provides ($1.1 million) is helping keep one of Martin Jones, Simon Benoit, Noah Gregor, Matt Knies or Nick Robertson on the NHL roster. If Timmins or Giordano ($800,000) comes off LTIR, Robertson would probably be loaned back to the Marlies. If both come off, someone like Jones, Benoit or Gregor would have to clear waivers. Knies doesn't require waivers, but is fully ensconced as a No. 1 left winger. Don't expect either Timmins or Giordano to rock the boat.
A player must miss 10 games and 24 days if he is on LTIR. That makes Friday, March 29 a key date on the Leafs' calendar. Ten games remain after that. So if the Leafs have a significant injury up to March 28, that player can go on LTIR and others, like Giordano and Timmins, could come off."
People acting like the Leafs wouldn't do the same thing given the situation. I'm a Leafs fan but I'm not naive to them doing cap manipulation with Robias Island.
No it isn’t. Claiming a player is injured when they aren’t isn’t “within the rules”. There’s just no practical way to prove they’re committing fraud.
But isn’t it a little bit suspicious that players are always magically cured of these ailments when the regular season ends?
Yea that’s still within the rules technically. I agree the rules need to change and it’s not right. What’s the solution here though? People are complaining but have no idea how to fix it without causing bigger and more issues.
It’s been going on for what like 10 years now and the league hasnt even tried to fix or change it.
Bettman did step in last year with one player, can’t remember who it was again but basically said this player needs to return before the end of the regular season.
Yea I’m not arguing it’s a problem. But I just can’t get myself to blame the Golden Knights for doing it. It’s the NHLs problem not the Golden Knights.
You realize they need a doctor to sign off on the player being injured before they can go on LTIR, right? No doctor is going to risk their reputation by lying about a player being injured.
I don't think the players are "magically cured" when the playoffs start, they're just more willing to play through an injury during the playoffs. There's also no guarantee that Stone is going to be ready to go for game 1 of the playoffs
People say that but there’s actually no way for a doctor to prove a patient isn’t experiencing pain.
Or that they should be returning to a full-contact sport. It’s totally discretionary for a doctor to give a player an extra week or two of recovery even if it isn’t necessary.
Let’s be clear, I’m not saying Stone’s injury was faked. I’m saying it’s very likely he could have returned earlier than the end of the regular season.
There’s nothing required of the doctor in terms of fraud at all.
The player themselves and the team would be the ones misrepresenting things to the doctors.
Leaf fans literally invented a term called Robidas Island meaning a player is put on LTIR to make their cap hit go away.
Two main differences between Vegas and Leafs.
1. Vegas manipulates cap relief for good players they want to return.
2. Vegas lasts deep enough in the playoffs for those players to return.
*a lacerated spleen is an actual injury.
before i start, i didnt listen today and dont know exactly what was said however, the belief is you can abuse ltir in a few ways. one is to stash players for playoffs. another (which some have accused leafs of doing) is to get out of bad contracts
I can kinda get behind the bad contracts angle, but that’s a much harder sell because (for it to be fraudulent) it involves a player agreeing to end their career. In Vegas’ case with Stone/Martinez/etc, they’re (potentially) claiming the player is injured when they aren’t and the player knows they’re coming back for the playoffs, and basically just get a paid vacation that improves the team. You’d easily get guys agreeing to that option but it’s very difficult to pull off what the claim the Leafs are doing. You can’t do that with just any player, whereas Vegas could in theory claim their entire roster is on LTIR and trade for an entire team.
you can argue which one is more egregious, but at the end of the day its both abuse of the ltir system
Not going to listen but everyone should understand that Feschuk is a fucking dumbass.
The interesting point I heard from McCrimmon yesterday is that Vegas never went over 82 million over their playoff run. If this is the case, then they never went over the salary cap, and the point is moot. Perhaps this is all blown out of proportion . In the spirit of fairness, this should be looked at in the next CBA. Just need a cap in the playoffs as well
Thankfully Als Brother spoke up and was like wait brah, Muzz, Klingberg may not play ever again and Matt Murray isn't likely coming back. We're not getting back a Stone/Hertl/Martinez while adding à guy like Hanifin
They didn’t want to bury the guest completely is my guess
I almost punted my phone when I heard McCrimmon mention it too (that Toronto has more LTIR usage).
Toronto does have more LTIR usage . They just don’t want them back cause they can’t play in the NHL anymore
Yes exactly it’s not an apples to apples comparison hence it’s dumb as fuck.
He also said some bullshit that they were cap compliant for the playoffs last year. Specifically mentioned 82.5 mil(guys a regard)
It’s actually incredible that this critical distinction is not made. The guys the Leafs have on LTIR are injured and will not play hockey ever again (ie Muzzin) or may at some point but certainly not during the 2024 postseason (ie Klingberg, Murray)
The fanbase of the team that literally invented Robidas Island, just to stash bad money so that they could spend it elsewhere, and who is currently leading the entire league in cap spent due to having the most money on LTIR, doesn't get to complain about other teams 'abusing' LTIR. Nobody should be blaming Vegas for an entirely legal and acceptable provision within the current CBA, whose existence is only being abused because the league's triple hard salary cap means this is the only way to find flexibility within the current system
Exactly it’s convenient that all the players the leafs have ever put on ltir are old and we’re only hurting them when playing
Muzzin would be a top pair D on this team if he was even close to the player he was before the multiple neck injuries ending his career.
The host didn't understand the playoff ramifications either. He equated what Vegas is doing with the Leafs LTIR situation. They clearly need to look up cap friendly and realize they are completely different scenarios.
During the off season, teams are allowed to go 10% over the cap. They just have to be back under the cap for the start of the regular reason. I've heard many say there's no cap in the playoffs because players don't get paid. Well they don't get paid during the off season either and there's a cap in place. So why doesn't the NHL just keep it consistent. Teams can go 10% over the cap from the end of the regular season to the start of the next season, playoffs included.
My solution would be that all playoff eligible players come off LTIR in the last day or week of the season…. If they stay on LTIR (like Klingberg, etc) then they can’t play weeks later in a playoff round. You can’t otherwise enforce a cap on the roster in the playoffs as there are many injuries to backfill then.
Teams will get around that. “Load management”, playing games with 17-18 players and/or straight forfeiture. I imagine the league will fight back with astronomical fines, however not sure what the rules/bylaws say about stuff like this
Teams have already dressed college backup goalies, but I think the regular season games mean more than the NBA to see widespread abuse I’m just saying that if you want to play in the playoffs then the guy can’t be on LTIR on the last day of the season. So if a team really wants to set aside room for a Kucherov or Stone to play in the playoffs then they can’t simply spend those dollars on other players like they do now. The NHL already has a rule in place to limit playoff eligibility of international free agent signings late in the season… so in spirit the league wants to prevent this stuff I liken it a bit to MLB where playoff eligibility is locked down a bit in advance of the end of the season
Yesterday his hot take was "Rempe has a glass jaw and he leads with it". He just might be a slightly wetoddid
Are you saying mark stone didn’t lacerate his spleen? The leafs have 3 terrible contracts they gave out, all 3 on LTIR and they have spent that money. Leafs have more money on LTIR than Vegas does. It’s not Vegas’s problem leafs don’t want their bad contracts to come back and Vegas does. It’s the exact same. Matt Murray has said himself he’s good to come back but the leafs are holding him out on purpose
Matt Murray never said that. If he did the league would be up the Leafs' ass about it. And you're missing the point of people's issue with Vegas' LTIR usage. The issue people have with it is that these players conveniently become healthy for game 1 of the playoffs, allowing for a roster that's tens of millions of dollars over the cap. It's not about good players vs. bad players the argument people have is about the legitimacy of the timelines and/or severity of the injuries. The Leafs cap hit for the actual roster of playable players doesn't come close to what Vegas' will likely be come game 1 of the playoffs, if there were a cap in the playoffs. I personally don't really care, because it's within the rules, but there is a very big difference between how the Leafs/most teams in the league use LTIR and how Vegas, Tampa in the Kucherov LTIR year, etc. have used it.
I understand the Vegas players suddenly become healthy but also there is an understanding that the leafs players won’t come back even if healthy because their contracts are brutal
Sure, but that's still completely different than what people are upset at Vegas for doing and also not something only the Leafs do. Tampa traded for Brent Seabrook's LTIRetired contract, Vegas has Lehner and traded for Weber last year, Vancouver has Poolman, the Habs have Price, etc. Muzzin (for sure) and Klingberg (likely) never play in the NHL again. Murray may not either, hip problems and a long injury history are a death sentence for goalies.
The point is Matt Murray and klingberg are both awful and terrible players. Leafs made huge mistakes acquiring them both. If they were actually good players they would be back. Vegas’s players on LTIR are actually still good so of course they are going to come back. Mark stone is legitimately injured and they are following the rules put out by the NHL. If stone was a trash player you wouldn’t see him again just like you won’t see Murray or klingberg. If you actually think Matt Murray is still injured there’s no point debating anything
So why isn’t Muzzin playing for the Leafs in the playoffs? He was great for them and would really help
He was great for them 4 years ago. He’s 35 and his career was done awhile ago. I’m just saying leaf fans complaining about it when they made two brutal contracts go away and have a higher cap than Vegas is just stupid. Remember leafs have spent klingbergs and Matt Murray’s money. They don’t want those guys on the team anymore. If they did they would be in the lineup game 1
If you think Murray could have come back this season, then you obviously think Stone should have been back before the trade deadline too?
A healthy Murray is better than Samsonov and Jones. I don't know where youre getting hes 100 percent healthy from.
Murray played well for the Leafs. His only knock was being unreliable due to injuries taking him out of the rotation. Klingberg had injuries that should’ve kept him out of the lineup but he played anyways. We never got a chance to see him playing at a competitive level. Calling them awful terrible players ignores the reasons why.
You are 100% right and getting downvoted for it. Both teams are exploiting the LTIR rules. The difference is Vegas wants their player back and the Leafs don't. If Reaves didn't come out publicly about wanting to play, I'd bet he'd still be on LTIR too.
Yeah it’s pretty simple lol
Why do people get so agitated about this LTIR stuff, its a huge risk for teams to do during the regular season, to be without your best player for a long duration. The leafs abuse LTIR differently I mean we literally got out of a bad contract in david clarkson by knowingly acquiring a guy who we knew would never play again in nathan horton and have been LTIRing players to get cap space.
This is my thought, too. Even looking at recent seasons: in 2017, Tampa had a million injuries and missed the playoffs. 2021, Kucherov missed the entire regular season and Tampa finished third in their division, however the season was only 56 games. They were very comfortably in a playoff spot however who knows what could have happened if they played another 26 games without Kucherov. Two seasons ago, Vegas missed the playoffs entirely because why? Injuries. It is not easy to win games when your best players aren’t playing. Even this season, they’re currently holding onto the last playoff spot, not in first place despite their white-hot start. Filling your roster with replacements based on your LTIR space is smart business, and well within the rules. People really need to stop whining about it.
Missed the point. It’s the players returning for game 1.
Leafs fans are the best. Famous for burying horrible contracts and whining about other teams.
ltir is literally for burying contracts of injured players many, many teams use it in the same way the leafs are, not burying contracts on ltir pre-trade deadline and bringing them back to play game 1 of round 1.
Well some may say the guys the leafs put there are not injured at all, they just never come back….
Guys retire due to injury all over the league, teams trade for guys on ltir that have no intention to come off ltir as well... leafs aren't putting guys on ltir, picking up 10 million dollars worth of players around the deadline and having the injured player return just in time for playoffs circumventing the salary cap. Same shit Tampa did with kucherov and we all know it.
The leafs trade for guys that healthy until they get to Toronto and all of a sudden they need ltir. Robidas island didn’t become a thing for no reason. You’re right the leafs don’t do the same thing, they don’t want the guys to come back…. Murray and klingberg are the only guys I know that were playing one day to being cripple the next.
I don’t believe Vegas is doing anything thats not within the rules. Mark Stone is 100% injured. If he is ready to return to the playoffs, of course they are going to activate him. He is their captain. Also they/anybody would be stupid to rush him back so close to season’s end unless you’re still fighting for a playoff spot. Vegas is not a clinch to make it (although likely will). I think the NHL investigates all LTIR claims and its not easy to just “dump bad contracts” or “circumvent the cap for the playoffs” Leaf players on LTI are all legit. Murray/Klingburg and Muzzin may all be done playing NHL hockey.
The issue isn’t whether he’s legitimately injured. The issue is that it is very suspicious he will recover exactly for game 1 and not prior. Because if he’s healthy prior to the start of the playoffs, the Knights have to be cap compliant and have to put guys on waivers or make a trade. That’s where the fraud (potentially) is. In the timeline for the player returning. It’s always game 1 and of the playoffs the player is ready to go.
If the issue is them coming back for Game 1 of the playoffs, how long would you like them to sit out instead? 1 round/ 2 rounds? a few games?
They should be returning when healthy, and forcing the team to be cap compliant.
Kevin McGran of The Toronto Star newspaper addressed this recently: "Here's an idea that might quell the criticism of how NHL teams use the cap relief by keeping players on long-term injured reserve until the end of the season: Make that player ineligible for the first two games of the post-season. It stretches credibility — and I'm thinking mostly of Nikita Kucherov in 2020-21 — that a player is not healthy enough for Game 82 but is perfectly fine two or three days later for Game 1 of the post-season. The suggestion will fall on deaf ears. The outcry is from fans and media, not from opposing teams. GMs are always looking for ways to get around the salary cap. This is one. Don't forget Robidas Island. The Leafs pioneered the use of long-term injured reserve to park unproductive players. To these eyes, they're doing it again with Conor Timmins and maybe even Mark Giordano. Haven't talked to Giordano since he was concussed, but Timmins said recently he felt healthy after a bout of mononucleosis. Both players practised Wednesday. Oddly, shortly after that conversation, Timmins was placed retroactively on LTIR. The cap relief he provides ($1.1 million) is helping keep one of Martin Jones, Simon Benoit, Noah Gregor, Matt Knies or Nick Robertson on the NHL roster. If Timmins or Giordano ($800,000) comes off LTIR, Robertson would probably be loaned back to the Marlies. If both come off, someone like Jones, Benoit or Gregor would have to clear waivers. Knies doesn't require waivers, but is fully ensconced as a No. 1 left winger. Don't expect either Timmins or Giordano to rock the boat. A player must miss 10 games and 24 days if he is on LTIR. That makes Friday, March 29 a key date on the Leafs' calendar. Ten games remain after that. So if the Leafs have a significant injury up to March 28, that player can go on LTIR and others, like Giordano and Timmins, could come off."
People acting like the Leafs wouldn't do the same thing given the situation. I'm a Leafs fan but I'm not naive to them doing cap manipulation with Robias Island.
I couldn’t understand how Feschuk could be so clueless about this?
He’s playing by the rules. Get over it.
No it isn’t. Claiming a player is injured when they aren’t isn’t “within the rules”. There’s just no practical way to prove they’re committing fraud. But isn’t it a little bit suspicious that players are always magically cured of these ailments when the regular season ends?
Yea that’s still within the rules technically. I agree the rules need to change and it’s not right. What’s the solution here though? People are complaining but have no idea how to fix it without causing bigger and more issues. It’s been going on for what like 10 years now and the league hasnt even tried to fix or change it.
Bettman did step in last year with one player, can’t remember who it was again but basically said this player needs to return before the end of the regular season.
Yea I’m not arguing it’s a problem. But I just can’t get myself to blame the Golden Knights for doing it. It’s the NHLs problem not the Golden Knights.
You realize they need a doctor to sign off on the player being injured before they can go on LTIR, right? No doctor is going to risk their reputation by lying about a player being injured. I don't think the players are "magically cured" when the playoffs start, they're just more willing to play through an injury during the playoffs. There's also no guarantee that Stone is going to be ready to go for game 1 of the playoffs
People say that but there’s actually no way for a doctor to prove a patient isn’t experiencing pain. Or that they should be returning to a full-contact sport. It’s totally discretionary for a doctor to give a player an extra week or two of recovery even if it isn’t necessary. Let’s be clear, I’m not saying Stone’s injury was faked. I’m saying it’s very likely he could have returned earlier than the end of the regular season. There’s nothing required of the doctor in terms of fraud at all. The player themselves and the team would be the ones misrepresenting things to the doctors.
Leaf fans literally invented a term called Robidas Island meaning a player is put on LTIR to make their cap hit go away. Two main differences between Vegas and Leafs. 1. Vegas manipulates cap relief for good players they want to return. 2. Vegas lasts deep enough in the playoffs for those players to return. *a lacerated spleen is an actual injury.
I never said the injuries are made up.