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Tampa Bay’s LTIR Usage Investigated By NHL, No Wrongdoing Found

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As could have reasonably been expected, the Tampa Bay Lightning have faced some criticism of their handling of the salary cap this season, especially as they race toward what could very likely be back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships. The Lightning employed the Long-Term Injured Reserve to keep forward Nikita Kucherov off the pay roll for the entire 2020-21 regular season, allowing them to re-sign other players and add at the trade deadline by using the entirety of his $9.5MM cap hit as added space. Then, when the postseason began and the salary cap was no longer a factor, the 2018-19 Hart Trophy winner was ready to return, looking fresh and looking no worse for wear. At best, the timing of it all was extremely lucky. At worst, it was salary cap circumvention.

Defending his team against these allegations, Tampa GM Julien BriseBois tells Sportsnet’s Josh Beneteau that the NHL did in fact investigate the club’s LTIR usage and found that they had not broken any rules.  The league had issued a warning earlier this season, with an unusually high number of teams using the LTIR, that they would be monitoring those transactions and would investigate. This was the case with Kucherov, but nothing about the Bolts’ actual transactions raised any alarms. After all, the LTIR, for all intents and purposes, is a legal form of circumvention. If other clubs are upset with how it is being used, it is an area that will need to be addressed in the next CBA negotiation in 2026.

However, the vast majority of complaints were not how the LTIR itself is structured or was used by Tampa, but rather the suspicious timing of Kucherov’s rehab lasting through the entire regular season but not into any of the postseason. BriseBois noted that this too had to be proven to the league. “We had to be able to justify the surgery, the rehab time, (and) the return to play clearance,” he told Beneteau. “Sometimes the stars align for you,” he added, qualifying what others believed to be a designed manipulation of the LTIR system. If the NHL was convinced that the timing was just right, then other teams and fans alike should be as well. BriseBois is right though – the team certainly got lucky and that luck might just lead them to another title.

Snapshots: MacKinnon, NHLPA, April Fool’s

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Nathan MacKinnon’s comical misconduct on Wednesday night drew plenty of attention at the expense of Arizona Coyotes forward Conor Garland. Even in the midst of an 8-3 blowout in his favor, the Colorado Avalanche superstar lost his head in a scrum late in the third period, grappling with Garland and then picking up his opponent’s fallen helmet and bowling it back into his face. (video) While the helmet toss itself did not appear to do much damage (and has supplied many a laugh on April Fool’s Day), it was clearly a penalty. MacKinnon was handed a ten-minute misconduct and an ejection, but most expected that he could receive some supplemental discipline for the act. Well, the NHL Department of Player Safety has handed down their decision, but it isn’t what many – especially Coyotes fans – expected or hoped for. MacKinnon has been fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct, but will not be suspended. This is the maximum fine for that particular penalty, but in the big picture means little to MacKinnon. There has been mounting scrutiny over the league’s handling of egregious penalties committed by its biggest stars and the recent leniency with MacKinnon and Connor McDavid will not help their cause.

  • The NHLPA is adding a pair of noteworthy names to its staff. The Players’ Association announced today that former NHLers Ron Hainsey and Sean Bergenheim have been hired to executive positions. Hainsey, whose hiring seemingly marks his retirement after playing last season and speaking to team’s this off-season, has been named Assistant to the Executive Director for Special Projects and Development Initiatives. Bergenheim, who hung up his skates in 2018 and last played in the NHL in 2014-15, will hold the title of  NHLPA European Affairs Representative. Bergenheim’s 506 career NHL games with four teams is impressive enough, but pales in comparison to Hainsey’s 1,132 career games with seven different teams. The NHLPA adds plenty of veteran hockey know-how with these additions, while both have held administrative roles in their careers as well. As for their specific duties with the Players’ Association, the press release describes each role as follows:

Bergenheim will work closely with NHL players from Europe, and on behalf of the NHLPA on matters relating to international competitions as well as professional hockey in Europe… Hainsey will work on a variety of matters related to the administration of the CBA, media and broadcast partners, and new opportunities for marketing and sponsorship, all with special emphasis on the enhancement of player communication within the NHLPA.

  • For a daily dose of hockey history, it is worth noting that the last time the NHL had a trade deadline date in April was in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Unlike today, there were a number of April 1 trades that year as well. And it was the Calgary Flames who sadly held the title of April Fools that year. The team dealt star defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for prospect forward Mark Cundari, the rights to goaltender Reto Berra, and a 2013 first-round pick. Bouwmeester would go on to play at a high level for seven more seasons with the Blues, going to the postseason six times and winning a Stanley Cup, before retiring this past off-season. As for the Flames’ return? Cundari played eight games over two seasons with Calgary and then never played in the NHL again. Berra played just half a season in Calgary, posting poor numbers, before being traded away for a second-round pick. That second-rounder became Hunter Smith, who played two AHL seasons and two ECHL seasons before retiring, having never seen NHL action. And the first-rounder from the initial deal? That was used to select Emile Poirier, who played just eight games over two seasons with Calgary and is currently playing in Europe. As they say, four strikes and you’re out. This is a trade that the Flames wish had only been an April Fool’s Day prank.

Connor McDavid Fined For Elbowing

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The Department of Player Safety has determined that Connor McDavid’s elbow on Jesperi Kotkaniemi from yesterday’s action is not worthy of a suspension, but have issued a $5,000 fine. That is the maximum allowable fine under the CBA and it will keep McDavid on the ice for the Edmonton Oilers moving forward.

The incident occurred in the first period of last night’s game after the Montreal Canadiens were already up 3-0. After Kotkaniemi had passed the puck, McDavid still tried to lay a hit and extended his elbow up into the Montreal forward’s face. McDavid earned a two-minute minor for roughing and will now have to pay a fine as well.

Though he will escape suspension, the fine will go onto McDavid’s record and be taken into account for future supplementary discipline decisions. Kotkaneimi did not suffer an injury on the play.

Suspension Notes: Wilson, Carlo, Blichfeld

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So, the last time that Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson was suspended he received a 20-game suspension. Now after a nasty hit on Boston Bruins’ Brandon Carlo, he received just a seven-game suspension. Should it have been more? How do you explain that?

Well, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski does just that.

The scribe notes that the Department of Player Safety initially looked at the hit as a check-to-the-head incident, but decided that a boarding penalty had a better chance of earning a suspension. Even though the league has been shortened to 56 games, Wyshynski pointed out that the suspension was not pro-rated.

Even though Wilson is a repeat offender, having been suspended for two preseason games, 24 (reduced to 18) regular season games and three playoff games over his career, it didn’t mean that he was going to get a longer suspension than the 20 games he received on Oct. 3, 2018 (for his check-to-the-head of St. Louis’ Oskar Sundqvist), based on CBA rules. Rule 18.1 of the collective bargaining agreement states that “players who repeatedly violate League Playing Rules will be more severely punished for each new violation.” The Department of Player Safety doesn’t interprets that rule to mean that Wilson’s next suspension would be longer than the 20 games he received more than two years ago. Instead, it is interpreted that a repeat offender would receive a greater punishment than a first-time offender, although the fact that Wilson hasn’t been suspended for 29 months was taken into account. Hence the seven-game ruling.

  • Wyshynski also notes that while Wilson is considered a repeat offender when it comes to supplemental discipline, that wasn’t the case when it comes to money forfeited. According to the CBA, a player is no longer considered a repeat offender after 18 months without a suspension. Therefore, he only forfeited $311,782 from Saturday’s ruling. CapFriendly adds that had he been considered a repeat offender, he would have lost $645,833.
  • Samantha Pell of the Washington Post reports that despite early reports that Wilson received an in-person hearing, that wasn’t the case. Wilson waived his right to that and chose instead to participate in a standard conference call instead.
  • On the Bruins front, Carlo was taken to the hospital by ambulance Saturday night after the hit. The team announced that Carlo was released from the hospital early Sunday morning and is home resting. Head coach Bruce Cassidy said that he has spoken to Carlo and said the blueliner is feeling better. However, Carlo is expected to be out awhile, most likely week-to-week. A team that already has quite a few injury issues on the blueline, the Bruins will now bring Urho Vaakanainen into their rotation and have him play next to Jarred Tinordi on their third-pairing.
  • While no official roster moves have come from the San Jose Sharks, CapFriendly reports that forward Joachim Blichfeld, who was suspended two games for a hit on Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, has served his two-game suspension and returns to the team’s active roster. Whether the Sharks intend on keeping him on their roster, send him to the taxi squad or return him to the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL remains to be seen. Blichfeld was making his season debut Wednesday.

Snapshots: Penguins, Waite, Fines

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are under new leadership, so no one has a clear idea of how they will operate at the upcoming trade deadline. Still, Josh Yohe of The Athletic did his best to create a “most-likely-to-leave” list, ranking the Penguins players and evaluating their future with the organization. While Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin remain in their own categories because of the legacy attachment to the franchise, some other rankings could raise some eyebrows.

Specifically, Yohe sees a potential trade coming for Marcus Pettersson, given the team’s left-handed depth and the young defenseman’s contract situation. Pettersson, 24, signed a five-year extension worth more than $20MM in the middle of last season, before the team brought in Mike Matheson (and his hefty contract). With John Marino’s new contract kicking in next season the Penguins have quite a bit of capital tied up on defense, which could lead to someone having to be moved out.

  • The Montreal Canadiens announced last night that Stephane Waite, the team’s goaltending coach, had been relieved of his duties and Sean Burke would take over as director of goaltending. Montreal GM Marc Bergevin confirmed to reporters including Arpon Basu of The Athletic that Waite was fired during the second period of last night’s game and the decision was not based on anything that happened recently, but a “pattern” that he had noticed. Burke was already under contract with the team through the end of the season and has not been given an extension at this time.
  • Nino Niederreiter has been fined $5,000 for his goaltender interference on Juuse Saros last night, the maximum allowable under the CBA. Niederreiter collided with Saros behind the net, making some contact with his head, and the goaltender left the game with an injury. The Carolina Hurricanes forward will avoid suspension, though this incident will be considered during any future supplementary discipline.

League Notes: Draft, Fines, AHL

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There’s been a lot of talk about the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and how it could be pushed back from this summer, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet examines just how difficult that would actually be in his latest 31 Thoughts column. Everyone agrees that it will be tough to properly assess players who haven’t had a chance to play much this season, but the draft has many other machinations that go along with it, including service time and rights retention.

There are real hurdles to overcome before the event is moved just like anything that needs to be negotiated between the NHL and NHLPA. For now, the draft is still scheduled to begin on July 23, just a few days after the Seattle Kraken enter as the league’s 32nd franchise and hold their expansion draft.

  • Vancouver Canucks forward Antoine Roussel has been fined $5,000 for roughing Edmonton Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi last night, the maximum allowable under the CBA. After a whistle, Roussel started throwing punches at Puljujarvi without the Edmonton forward wanting to engage in a fight. Roussel was also assessed a two-minute minor penalty on the play.
  • The AHL has postponed tonight’s game between the Iowa Wild and Texas Stars due to COVID-19 protocols affecting the Wild. The game has not been rescheduled yet. This postponement means that Texas will continue to wait for their next game after having last week’s match postponed due to inclement weather. The Stars haven’t played since February 13 and it is unclear if games on Friday and Saturday against Iowa will go ahead.

International Notes: 2022 Olympics, Team USA, Mexico City

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The NHL may have made a commitment to return to the Winter Olympics in 2022, but that doesn’t mean that participation is automatically guaranteed. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that concerns obviously still exist about the viability of a mid-season international tournament set to begin in less than 12 months given that the battle against the Coronavirus is still being waged across the globe. Although COVID-19 vaccines are now being distributed world-wide and the hope is that the virus will be contained within the next year if not sooner, a major international event with athletes from all over the world poses a great threat of infection, especially given the fact that many countries will not be vaccinated at the same rate as major world powers like the United States and Canada, among others. As Dreger notes, the first test before the Beijing Games in 2022 will be this summer, as the postponed Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics are still scheduled to take place. However, there is considerable concern and doubt about the Tokyo Games occurring. The stakeholders in the next Winter Olympics will learn a lot from how these Summer Games are operated, if at all, from a health and safety perspective. As Dreger notes, the testing protocols in Beijing will have to be extensive for NHL players to attend, especially considering that the virus originated in China. He believes that if the Summer Olympic results or the plans for the Winter Olympics do not inspire hope, there is a possibility that the men’s hockey tournament could be held remotely at a different venue, still part of the Beijing games but from a more secure location, likely in North America. Dreger adds that the IIHF is set to meet soon to discuss the many issues and possibilities surrounding the 2022 Games. Since the commitment to Olympic participation was collectively bargained in the latest CBA, both the NHL and NHLPA would need to agree if players were not to attend next year. However, both sides only have player safety in mind at this time and should be on the same page with making a determination at some point in the near future.

  • Assuming the NHL does return to the Olympics in 2022, it will the first opportunity to play at the top international level for many of the game’s biggest names. After skipping the last Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018, the NHL has not sent representative to the Games since 2014 – a long span of time in an NHL career. Many established stars had not even been drafted when the league was last involved. Expectations are especially high for Team USA, as the Americans may be looking at their most talented Olympic roster ever in 2022. Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Seth Jones, Connor Hellebuyck, and countless other will all be making their Olympic debuts. However, USA Hockey has yet to choose the man that will be in charge of forming this team and does not plan to do so until participation in the games is confirmed. However, TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman is considered the likely selection at this point. Bowman, who won Stanley Cups in the years sandwiching the NHL’s last Olympic Games, was nevertheless not part of Team USA the last time around. This time, he is expected to be the GM and the one to lead a hopeful squad. Seravalli notes that past members of Team USA’s operations such as David Poile and Don Waddell are surely being considered as well, but appear more likely to be assistants to Bowman. With Hockey Canada already announcing a deep and talented brain trust for the 2022 Games to go with an always-talented roster, Team USA may not want to wait much longer to formally begin preparations.
  • As for other possible upcoming international ventures, Arizona Coyotes President and CEO Xavier Gutierrez has some thoughts. Speaking with AZ Central’s Jose Romero about the NHL’s upcoming outdoor games – and how the ’Yotes have never been invited to play in one – Gutierrez shared his hopes for Arizona to take part in a different historic game. He believes that the next step for the NHL in their global initiatives is to hold a game in Mexico City. Although Mexico is not a traditional hockey country, Gutierrez sees “incredible opportunity” for growth in Latin America. The NHL has played games in Asia before with this same idea of spreading the game in mind and Gutierrez feels that Mexico should be next up. He notes that the NFL, MLB, and NBA have all ventured into Mexico before, leaving the NHL as the only major North American league yet to do so. The league has not hesitated to hold both preseason and regular season games abroad in recent years and games in Mexico City, given a proper venue is available, may not be as costly or logistically challenging as games in Eastern Europe and Asia have been. Should the league consider Gutierrez’ idea, the Mexico native’s club does seem like the ideal fit. Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo is the NHL’s first Latino majority owner and Gutierrez it’s first Latino president. The ’Yotes, as well as the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, or Dallas Stars, all play in areas with significant Latin populations and there are surely fans of some of these team in Mexico as well. A match-up between Arizona and any of those teams would be a great introduction for the NHL south of the border.

AHL, PHPA Ratify CBA Amendments

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The AHL and Professional Hockey Players’ Association, union for minor league players, have announced the ratification of modified terms of the CBA for the 2020-21 season. The agreement allows the upcoming AHL season to move forward. League president Scott Howson released a statement:

We are very pleased that the players and the member clubs of the AHL have come together to find a solution for playing the 2020-21 season during these difficult times. We remain committed to the health and safety of our players, coaches, officials and fans, as well as everyone else who will be contributing to our league this season.

Very basically, this agreement will make an AHL season possible, but it doesn’t come without some controversy. Sean Shapiro of The Athletic reported last week that many AHL players felt very unhappy with the options in front of them and eventually agreed to protect the overall financial health of union members. If it was turned down and a season was not held, it would be the players on AHL-only deals that would take the brunt of the losses. Some players told Shapiro that they believed the AHL delay was a negotiating tactic to get better terms.

Still, for hockey fans at least, this is good news. The AHL is set to kick off their season on February 5, meaning prospects and veterans alike will get back on the ice and continue their careers. The first game of the season will be between the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and Providence Bruins, scheduled for 1pm EST on Friday afternoon. The league has still not announced a schedule for the North Division as they continue to work with provincial health officials in Canada.

AHL Players Agree To CBA Modifications

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The Professional Hockey Players Association (PHPA) has agreed to the AHL’s proposal regarding salary modifications for the upcoming season and a CBA extension, reports TSN’s Frank Seravalli (Twitter link).  The agreement still has to be ratified by the Board of Governors but it is a significant hurdle that has been cleared with an eye on their season officially getting underway next week.

Sean Shapiro of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that players on one-way AHL agreements will be guaranteed 40% of their listed salary regardless of how many games are played.  Players on NHL two-way deals will be guaranteed 48% if they’re assigned to the AHL or to the ECHL.  No player will make less than $30K under the terms of the agreement which also carries a one-year CBA extension through the 2024-25 season.

While all professional leagues have certainly took a beating to their finances due to the pandemic, the AHL has been hit even harder as there is no significant television contract to fall back on.  They are an even more gate-driven league and without that revenue stream, they have had to cut down costs accordingly and guaranteed salaries were among those to take a hit.  Some teams have opted to play out of their practice facilities to keep game day costs down.

For most of the divisions, the season will get underway on February 5th with schedules ranging from 24 to 44 games in length.  The Canadian division has not yet been scheduled as Ontario still needs to provide approval for Belleville and Toronto while Calgary’s farm team has now relocated to Calgary with that being made official just yesterday.  Things look a lot different in the NHL this season and the same can certainly be said for the top minor league circuit.

Arizona Coyotes Hire David Ludwig

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The Arizona Coyotes have hired David Ludwig as the team’s Director of Hockey Operations & Salary Cap Compliance, joining the front office under new GM Bill Armstrong. He comes to the Coyotes after a decade at KO Sports, a licensed agency led by Kurt Overhardt that represents NHL talents like Jaccob Slavin, Viktor Arvidsson, Jacob Trouba, and, perhaps most notably, Coyotes forwards Christian Dvorak and Nick Schmaltz. Armstrong released this statement on the hire:

David brings a wealth of experience to our hockey operations department. His knowledge and expertise in contract negotiations, salary cap management and the CBA will be invaluable to us and he will play an important role in helping us build a winner in the desert.

Armstrong has quite the task in front of him to rebuild the Coyotes infrastructure after former GM John Chayka left this summer and the team was penalized heavily for draft infractions. Ludwig will join a new management group that is growing after already adding scouting guru Darryl Plandowski earlier this offseason.

Cap compliance is certainly something the Coyotes need as they currently sit nearly $3MM over the ceiling for the 2020-21 season. That’s including Marian Hossa’s $5.275MM hit, but the intricacies of how to maximize the relief for that contract are complicated and now, likely, up to Ludwig to figure out. The Coyotes have a lot of money tied up long-term in contracts for Schmaltz, Dvorak, and others, but also have a number of players coming off the books after this season. While an entire rebuild of the roster isn’t necessary, you can bet changes will be coming before long not only in the front office, but on the ice as well.

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