Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) feature: When players are out due to an injury for an extended period during the regular season, they are put on LTIR, and their salary no longer goes against the cap for the team they play for.

The Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers returned to the Amerant Bank Arena in a deciding Game 6 on Tuesday with their eyes on the Stanley Cup. The Oilers had a chip on their shoulder from last season’s Finals loss at the hands of the Cats and the Panthers wanted to re-create their 2024 season magic. Although the Oilers captain Connor McDavid put it, “Nobody quit, nobody threw the towel in,” nothing really mattered when after the final buzzer, Florida stood high. And if the silencing 1-5 defeat or the consecutive title misses by the Panthers was not enough, Edmonton and GM Stan Bowman had more worries coming their way. And it all started with their LTIR.

Every rule has a loophole. For LTIR, it comes in the form of postseason where salary cap space isn’t applicable. And Bowman certainly put it to use to trade for defenseman Jake Walman and Trent Frederic in the last 24 hours of the deadline. Last September, forward Evander Kane underwent surgery that would keep him out well after the playoffs. Although he began practicing with the team in February after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the doctors didn’t clear him for playoffs’ Game-1 against Los Angeles. Until…

…two days later when he put up six goals and six assists for 12 points against the Kings. He even had a goal in the Finals against the Panthers. And that’s exactly where NHL stakeholders raised their eyebrows. Now, NHL insider Frank Seravalli’s sources are on their toes again, and if they are correct, so will be Bowman. Here’s the update as tweeted by Seravalli:

“Sources: #NHL plans to continue to examine the #Oilers usage of LTIR salary cap relief for forward Evander Kane. The NHL may require more information to satisfy itself that the #Oilers complied with the CBA.”

The 33-year-old had surgeries for two torn hip-adductor muscles, two hernias and two torn lower abdominal muscles. This significant procedure could’ve easily kept him out until, if not even after, March’s trade deadline. But his return timeline was disrupted again when he got under the needle to remove congenital tumor-like growth in his knee this January. However, his return ruffled the feathers again.

Since salaries don’t apply during the playoffs, the NHL has made it clear they’ll require further clarity that Kane’s playoff return didn’t violate the “spirit of the CBA,” as per Seravalli. If it did, then the league may look into “retroactive punishment” for Edmonton which might be another costly (no pun intended) issue for the Oilers who are looking forward to offering extensions to Leon Draisaitl and likely Evan Bouchard. But for the fans, what really got to them was Edmonton being targeted when many other teams too used the LTIR in their favor. So, when they know the Panthers too used the trickery on Matthew Tkachuk, they came at the league fires blazing.

Fans point fingers at the champions Florida Panthers

Evander Kane becoming a regular part of the Oilers’ lineup during the playoffs after sitting the entire regular season out raised the NHL’s eyebrows. But the fans didn’t see the issue having experienced multiple teams since the 2015 Chicago Blackhawks. Yet, since the NHL won’t let it rest, the fans called the league out for inconsistency and apparent biasness in favor of the Panthers.

“In game 6, the Oilers iced a team with salaries totaling $73.3 million. Florida was $93.4 million. Retention and LTIR excluded. Yeah, so the Oilers are the problem,” one fan commented, highlighting the disparity in the roster values. However, per Spotrac, both the teams have salary cap maximums of $88M. But that was only the tip of the iceberg of their argument. One fan directly referenced Matthew Tkachuk’s statement on a podcast.

“What the f—? Tkachuk LITERALLY joked on Spittin’ Chiclets a few weeks ago about how he joked with Seth Jones that he should thank him for being there since he only got there by him being on LTIR. F— off, Bettman,” the angry fan commented. However, the Panthers actually had the cap room to clear him; only that he was medically not. Meanwhile, the others were even more direct, picking up on the Florida Panthers’ alternate captain’s injury.

“So my question is, #19 in Florida played hurt in playoffs but couldn’t play throughout the year for them to get Marchand and Jones. Okay, thanks NHL, keep doing great work,” the NHL fan wrote in his sarcastic jibe. While Matthew Tkachuk didn’t sit out the entire year like Kane, his season was in jeopardy after sustaining serious injuries during the 4 Nations Face-Off.

In fact, the 28-year-old also admitted that he didn’t even know he could play in the 2025 playoffs. “I’m very lucky and fortunate that I’ve got great trainers and doctors, and they somehow got me healthy enough to play,” Tkachuk said right after winning his second Stanley Cup. During his absence, the Panthers also made deadline trades, signing Brad Marchand and Seth Jones.

Naturally, Oilers fans are fuming that there’s no news of the NHL investigating the Florida Panthers after Tkachuk returned to play for Game 1 of Round 1 against Tampa. Others even said the Cats used Aaron Ekblad’s 20-game suspension to bolster the cap limit. “FLA abused that and PED suspension cap and won a cup. No investigation? C’mon man, we’re already dead. Stop,” expressed another fan.

However, others argued that Ekblad’s suspension didn’t befit the Cats cap. That’s because, despite the suspension giving Florida a $7.5 million cap relief, it came after the trade deadline, so it ultimately didn’t matter. However, others still argued about the Panthers putting Matthew Tkachuk into LTIR at the start of March 2025.

“Out of all the egregious cap circumvention that has taken place, THIS is the one they are going to investigate? That’s wild. Look across to the other bench and Florida blatantly taking advantage of a suspension to get Jones and Marchand,” argued another fan. Something else that’s surprising about the NHL scrutinizing the Oilers is not just the Florida Panthers’ comparison.

Other teams have done something similar in the past. The Tampa Bay Lightning pulled off something similar during the 2020-2021 season with Nikita Kucherov when they put the 2019 Hart Trophy winner in LTIR. This move, coupled with similar LTIR contracts for Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson, gave the Lightning huge cap relief.

“Sometimes the stars align for you,” GM Julien BriseBois said, defending the team’s LTIR move in 2021. Then again, the NHL did investigate when the Vegas Golden Knights did something similar after the team put Mark Stone on LTIR, solving their salary cap woes. Yet, that’s your take on the whole Oilers situation? Tell us in the comments.