Golden Knights May Exploit LTIR Loophole Again-Shea Theodore Out Until Playoffs?
The Vegas Golden Knights are set to use the controversial loophole in the playoffs after placing the star defenseman Shea Theodore on the Long Term Injury Reserve.
For the past few seasons, it's been clear that teams using that loophole are getting a big advantage going into the playoffs.
It all started with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nikita Kucherov in the 2021 playoffs, their second of back-to-back Stanley Cup wins.
Kucherov was injured during the season and was placed on the LTIR. With the extra money available for the Lightning, general manager Julien BriseBois acquired other players to help the team win.
After winning, they were widely accused of circumventing the NHL salary cap, a reputation they still have to this day.
In the following years, the Vegas Golden Knights have used the same loophole. For two straight seasons, their captain Mark Stone got injured and returned just in time for the start of the playoffs, raising a lot of suspicion about the organization and their use of the LTIR.
Now, it appears, that the team is ready to do the same thing.
The Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore was injured in the first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off between Canada and Sweden in a collision with Los Angeles' Kings forward Adrian Kempe.
If you missed it, check it out here:
Later, the Golden Knights confirmed Theodore would be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury:
It'll be interesting to monitor his recovery. While there is no doubt that Shea Theodore's injury is real, it's quite surprising to see that the NHL lets the Golden Knights use the loophole for the third straight year.
I don't think the Golden Knights will prevent Theodore from coming back on the ice before the playoffs considering that he's one of their best defenseman. However, strategically speaking, it would make sense to use the money available by placing him on the LTIR to add another player to their lineup.
Theodore, 29, is in the final season of his $5,200,000 AAV contract, and already signed a seven-year extension valued at $7,425,000 AAV set to kick in next season.
| POLL | ||
FÉVRIER 14 | 325 ANSWERS Golden Knights May Exploit LTIR Loophole Again-Shea Theodore Out Until Playoffs? Do you think the NHL should fix the salary cap circumvention loophole in the next CBA? | ||
| Yes | 285 | 87.7 % |
| No | 40 | 12.3 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Tom Wilson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Alexander Ovechkin | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Brendan Gallagher | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pierre-Luc Dubois | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Victor Hedman | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Strome | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Carcone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Christian Dvorak | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Paul | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brayden Point | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cam Atkinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Desimone | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 56 | 39 | 14 | 3 | 81 | |
Capitals | 55 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 80 | |
Oilers | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 | |
Stars | 55 | 35 | 18 | 2 | 72 | |
Golden Knights | 56 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 72 | |
Panthers | 57 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 71 | |
Hurricanes | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Wild | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Maple Leafs | 55 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 68 | |
Avalanche | 57 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 68 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||