It would definitely be fair to call the Tampa Bay Lightning the villains of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. On top of being the defending champs, which always marks a significant target on a team’s back, their salary cap gymnastics have drawn the ire of some people in the hockey world.
Captain Steven Stamkos and star player Nikita Kucherov finished the season on long-term injury reserve, meaning their salaries didn’t work against the cap. This is a system put in place to ensure teams are able to combat injury woes during the season and give themselves a more fair chance in playoffs.
When it was announced that Stamkos and Kucherov would be available for the Bolts’ first playoff game, the accusations started to arise as to whether or not the Lightning were actually exploiting the LTIR system.
By now, you’ve likely seen the comments on anything Lightning related. Combine Kucherov’s $9.5M cap hit off the books with Stamkos’ $8.5M cap hit also being excluded, and the Lightning opened up $18M in cap space.
Fast forward to Game 6 of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s semifinal matchup with the New York Islanders, and Kucherov appeared to sustain another injury after Scott Mayfield cross-checked him. Kuch left the game and did not return, but he managed to make it back for Game 7.
When asked about the injury, Kucherov had a little fun trolling reporter Joe Smith.
To those unhappy with the Lightning’s salary cap tactic, this comment may come off as a little tongue-in-cheek. After all, was Kucherov actually injured right up until Game 1 of the playoffs, or was that less of a coincidence and more of a strategic move.
What injury? He doesn’t know what you’re talking about?
(H/T Joe Smith)
