NHL Insider Confirms Salary Cap Loophole to be Fixed, Which Could Cause Problems for Some Teams
Photo credit: Walter Tychonowicz - Imagn Images
A contentious talking point recently has been the utilization of the LTIR, and it's starting to sound like the NHL is headed towards a major change.
No-income tax states and the LTIR loophole have been two contentious talking points that have been brought up once again this post-season. It's even worse when a team can use both to their advantage.
The Florida Panthers are one win away from their second straight Stanley Cup, but are a beneficiary of both LTIR and residing in a no-tax state.
They've been able to extend some of their core pieces to very cost effective contracts due to the lack of state taxes, but they also utilized the LTIR with Matthew Tkachuk during the regular season.
The loophole with LTIR is that while it affects the salary cap during the regular season, once the playoffs begin, the cap essentially wipes out and LTIR doesn't matter.
We've seen it in year's past from the Tampa Bay Lightning with Nikita Kucherov and the Vegas Golden Knights with Mark Stone, which both led to Stanley Cup wins.
The Panthers were essentially able to save $9.5 million against the salary cap, which in turn allowed them to make trades for Seth Jones and Brad Marchand at the trade deadline.
Tkachuk was out for the final 2 months of the regular season but was ready for Game 1 of the playoffs and has since added 22 points during their run.
With a new CBA expected to be on the horizon with their current deal expiring in 2026, the NHL is seemingly looking into the loophole and there are talks about potentially forming a 'playoff salary cap', according to Chris Johnston.
The intricate details are not yet known, but that would be a massive change considering how contending teams operate near the trade deadline.
It would eliminate the possibility of certain teams loading up and having a salary cap that far exceeds the regular season upper limit once the first round of the playoffs begins.
Johnston also discussed other potential changes within the CBA that included cap projections actually going past what has already been posted, term limits dropping for UFAs, as well as deferrals on future contracts.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 17 | 4197 ANSWERS NHL Insider Confirms Salary Cap Loophole to be Fixed, Which Could Cause Problems for Some Teams Should the NHL look into changing the rules about the utilization of the LTIR? | ||
| Yes | 3596 | 85.7 % |
| No | 601 | 14.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
