Matthew Tkachuk on LTIR: Panthers follow the example of the Lightning and Golden Knights

Do you remember when Nikita Kucherov – who was supposedly injured – miraculously returned to the game during the 2021 playoffs after missing the entire season?

He had helped the Lightning win a second consecutive Stanley Cup with a harvest of 32 points in just 23 games.

Otherwise, we just have to remember the Golden Knights and their way of doing things with Mark Stone. It’s been two years that the team’s captain has been returning for the playoffs after missing a good part of the season…

Of course, we have to remind ourselves that in the playoffs, the salary cap doesn’t count.

For example, by placing Stone on the LTIR last season, the Golden Knights were able to free up his salary to go get Tomas Hertl in Vegas. Stone then returned for the playoffs without a problem because his salary no longer counted at that point.

Some see this as cheating… Even if there’s nothing technically illegal about it.

But with the next playoffs in sight, it seems that the Panthers are the next to adopt this strategy.

This is what we can believe, at least, seeing Matthew Tkachuk being placed on the LTIR…

The #TimetoHunt put Tkachuk on LTIR

After completing the Jones trade, FLA added Tkachuk to LTIR, then called up Driedger.

They now have $8.7M Cap Space remaining in LTIR with 21 active players (12F/7D/2G)https://t.co/Fn8YPUBPNG

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) March 2, 2025

This means that the Panthers currently have a cap space of $8.7 million.

acquisition of Seth Jones yesterday…

This is a lot of money.

And it will probably allow the Panthers to be even more aggressive before Friday (the NHL trade deadline) to improve their lineup for the playoffs.

The Panthers now have the space needed to improve, at least. Which wouldn’t have been possible without placing Tkachuk on the LTIR…

Of course, all teams have the right to take this path.

But we also know that it’s not unanimous throughout the league, and at some point, it will be interesting to see if the NHL will decide to change its rules to remedy the situation.

Because at some point, it becomes redundant year after year…

Extension

On paper, the Panthers already have a good team.

That being said, with the available money under the salary cap, the team has room to improve their bottom-6 – which is not the most talented in the NHL.

I don’t know, but it seems to me that Jake Evans and Joel Armia would fit well into this lineup…