When Kucherov missed an entire season on LTIR only to come back for game 1 of the playoffs, putting the Tampa Bay Lightning $18M over the salary cap, fans and General Managers were clearly upset with what seemed to be a clear loophole. At the GMs meeting in Florida, Elliotte Friedman is reporting possible changes.
Now, some significant players are going on LTIR around the league to accommodate some deadline trades: notably on the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Florida Panthers. When all these teams are healthy in the playoffs, they'd be well over the salary cap.
According to Friedman, enough GMs felt skeptical enough of LTIR usage, that they've voted to speak on the issue later with the NHLPA. With this issue surrounded by player injuries, any solution will need to be negotiated with the players in the collective bargaining agreement.
In addition, Friedman revealed Oilers GM Ken Holland was the one to raise the issue, and followed it with some proposed solutions. One, that playoff rosters must be cap compliant, tentatively called the Kucherov rule. Second, that GMs would not be able to trade the contracts of injured players, like Ryan Kesler, Brian Little, or Shea Weber.
As mentioned before, these issues will have to be brought up to the players for discussion. Hopefully, they can reach an agreement before the current CBA expires, and curb the risk of a NHL lockout.
