Paul Maurice Admits What Everyone Knew, and It's A Brutal Look for the NHL

Over the past few months, the Florida Panthers have been dealing with plenty of injuries, most notably Matthew Tkachuk, who has been on Long-Term Injured Reserve since the Four Nations break, with some believing he may not be available for the remainder of the season.

However, with Game One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning looming, Paul Maurice has now admitted what the entire NHL world knew, and that's that everyone will be available for that matchup.

That means that both Tkachuk and veteran forward Sam Bennett will be available to play, and with the addition of Seth Jones and Brad Marchand at the trade deadline, this is a team that's full of talent and ready to make it three straight Stanley Cup Finals runs.

Unsurprisingly, fans were once again not happy about how the LTIR rule in the NHL has been exploited, and after Tampa Bay and Vegas have most notably done it in recent years, it's becoming way too obvious that the league need to do something about it.

Unsurprisingly, when both of those teams exploited the rule, they were able to come away with a Stanley Cup, and while it's still a very legal thing to do, it's something that many have claimed ruins the integrity of the game.

While that's up for debate and personal opinion, there's nothing the NHL will do about it this year until the CBA negotiations begin, but with the Panthers now healthy, they'll look to capitalize and make it back-to-back Stanley Cups for the first time in franchise history.