Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
Seguin and Kucherov both played in the finals last year, both suffered torn labrums.
Seguin had the surgery for his torn labrum on November 2nd. Started skating with teammates April 15th, and Seguin returned May 3rd. He only played in 3 games.
So that was 6 months from surgery date to his first game back.
Kucherov had his torn labrum repaired on December 28th, started skating with the team on April 16th, and he returned in the playoffs on May 16th.
So that's actually a faster recover than Seguin when looking from time of surgery to playing games.
So I guess there are two questions there. Why did it take to December for Kucherov's surgery (sounds like they hoped they could rehab it and it failed), and why did it take a month from skating with the team for him to return to the lineup.
I guess you could argue that Kucherov could have returned about two weeks earlier, but the funny thing is I remember they could have fit him on the roster then if they wanted to since they had Stamkos on LTIR and Hedman was injured at the end of the season too. So honestly I would have found it shadier if somehow they put those two on LTIR and suddenly Kucherov came back to get some game action to shake off the rust before the playoffs.
Was it a bit sneaky from Tampa Bay? For sure. Did they time it perfectly so Kucherov was just ready to return for the playoffs? 100% But I honestly don't think a healthy Kucherov was sitting out (they had the LTIR room to play him with Stamkos and Hedman injured), I think they just strategically timed his rehab so he was ready for the playoffs. Smart move by them.
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People can pat them on the back for managing the cap but no matter what way you look at it… they built a team that, once the playoffs started, was way over the cap. That’s the issue. I know it’s within the rules as far as what anyone can prove in terms of the health of Kucherov. The rules themselves need to be adjusted because this can start to become a whole team design that gets repeated year after year and can get way out of hand for teams that can afford it. It is cap circumvention at its core.
I’ve used Eichel as an example for this coming year. Hypothetically, a team could trade for him, have him get the surgery at the exact right time for him to miss the regular season, load up the team with the roster you need to make the playoffs and be right at the cap even with him on LTIR, activate him on the first day of playoffs, and be 10 million over the cap.
Imagine if teams like Toronto, Boston, Tampa Bay, or Vegas keep doing this? These are teams that are locks to make playoffs every year just as they are and are right up against the cap. Imagine if they also got eichel without having to give up much at all from their roster (crazy example: trades Buffalo 4 first round picks plus their top 2 prospects). Now the team has a superstar in reserve for their playoff run. Next year… good chance one of their other top players might need a surgery. Have him get the surgery to time out when playoffs start. Year after year, teams like this could use LTIR and coordinate their player injury recoveries to have a powerhouse playoff team that’s way over the salary cap. Not to mention the random use of “player has developed allergy to equipment” that can be used on players to put them on LTIR if you don’t have a surgery-related excuse.
The loophole needs to be closed.
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