Things like “abuse” are also really ill-defined.
Player A and B both have the same injury with the same timeline for return. Both players make the same amount of money and are top 3 on their team in terms of production (previous season). The timeline for both to return is 4-5 months. Both players are in minimum playing condition by month 4, but would benefit from an extra month.
Player A’s team is a playoff lock, so Player A returns at 5 months, coinciding with the start of the playoffs.
Player B’s team is just outside the playoffs, so Player B returns at 4 months to help with the final push.
Is one of these scenarios clearly abuse?
Is it only abuse if Team A trades for a player at the deadline to replace Player A?
Considering we have players like Monahan, who probably could have benefitted from extended healing time but never took it, would it have been abuse if he did? Or would it only have been abuse if the Flames had signed a player to allow him to take that extra time (therefore making themselves stronger come playoff time)?
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