Bruins may be the latest team who circumvents the cap to gain advantage in the playoffs
Yesterday on Insider Trading with Darren Dreger, the NHL Insider discussed several topics that ranged from the new bidders for the Ottawa Senators, to a new commissioner for the AHL, to the NHL considering schedule changes to make things more interactive for the fan base. He also touched on the fact that Boston Bruins' forward, Taylor Hall, is inching near a return, but the Bruins are hard up for cap space at the moment.
The Bruins made several big moves at the trade deadline when they first acquired Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals before making a surprise move for Tyler Bertuzzi. With the move for Bertuzzi, many were wondering how the Bruins were going to fit all their players under the salary cap but then shortly after. The injured Hall was officially placed on LTIR, which made all the pieces fit, temporarily.
The 31-year-old was placed on LTIR in early March with a lower body injury and hasn't suited up for a game since the 25th of February. He had 16 goals and 36 points in 58 games up until that point.
PuckPedia tweeted shortly after Dreger's Insider Trading went viral that the Bruins could place Nick Foligno - currently on the IR - onto the LTIR to alleviate cap space and make room for Hall if he's ready before the playoffs, while leaving them with 66,000$ in cap space.
With the salary cap disappearing the moment the post-season begins for playoff teams, the Bruins will be able to use both Hall and Foligno when able and ready. Of course we've seen this same song and dance before when the Tampa Bay Lightning welcomed back Nikita Kucherov for the playoffs in 2021 and the Vegas Golden Knights seem to be following that same trend this year as well with Mark Stone.
Many people are vehemently against this loophole, but for the time being, the NHL doesn't plan on scrapping it from the rule book. Not to say the players aren't legitimately injured either, but it helps knowing that down the road you can welcome back a high-priced, impact player back into your lineup without worrying about the salary cap.
| POLL | ||
MARS 29 | 143 ANSWERS Bruins may be the latest team who circumvents the cap to gain advantage in the playoffs Should this loophole, which the Bruins look to be exploiting, be illegal under the CBA? | ||
| Yes, it should be illegal | 121 | 84.6 % |
| No, it's fine | 22 | 15.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
