Changes to LTIR salary cap relief may be on the way to prevent loopholes for playoffs

According to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, the League's GM's will discuss the possibility of implementing a playoff salary cap that matches the regular season salary cap to ensure that teams enter the postseason with an equal chance to compete for a Stanley Cup.

The idea likely spawned from last year's Tampa Bay Lightning, who entered the postseason WAY above the salary cap, using the existing rules to their advantage to ice a superior roster to every team they faced.

Rule changes always come with controversy. If one rule undergoes a change that impacts a certain team or teams in a significant way, it could lead to a chain reaction of rule changes, as someone always seems to be able to find a loophole to exploit. For some teams, it's LTIR. For other teams, it's their ability to offer free agents the chance to play hockey in a State with no State tax. In the case of teams like the Leafs, Rangers and Canadiens, it's the enormous operating budgets that give them the ability to provide their players with competitive advantages.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of the GM's meetings and which way the league decides to go with this idea.