Oilers analyst calls out Florida Panthers for planning to violate NHL rules again

Last year, Tckachuk had missed a good portion of the Panthers' season, after being placed on the LTIR, but returned for the playoffs, winning a Stanley Cup for his efforts.

This raised speculation in the media about the Panther's use of a CBA loophole, that allowed them to use saved, LTIR cap-money at the trade-deadline, and then activate the LTIR player for the playoffs as well. Sounds fishy to me, but that is exactly what happened.

Now, Matthew Tkachuk is in the news again because of an injury that may keep him out of the regular season for 2-3 months, basically replicating last season's timeline.

Except, when and if he does return for the playoffs, the CBA surrounding LTIR will have changed, effective', September 16, 2026, thereby preventing Florida from performing 'LTIR fraud' as David Staples of the Edmonton Journal called it.

According to the new CBA, teams can only seek playoff cap relief equivalent to the league's average regular season salaries, which in 2024-25 was $3.8M, and not the full amount of the actual player's salary, thereby creating a more level playing field. Florida Panthers won't be able to benefit from their less-than-honest methods, should they advance to next years' playoffs.

The new changes may also affect the Edmonton Oilers' cap, depending on how long Zach Hyman is out of the line-up because of the wrist injury he sustained in last season's playoffs against Dallas.

Whenever Hyman does return to the lineup, however, the rules around how his cap hit will be treated in the playoffs will be universal across the league's 32 teams. Unlike last year's Florida Panthers, the Oilers won't be cheating the system to win Stanley Cups.