Around the League 45: The Stanley Cup is in God's Waiting Room

[Blueline Bomber]

While this is true, they could have just as easily come up with an exception that allowed him to stay on LTIR knowing that was the destination for him anyway. Instead, they'll get to operate without that, which is beneficial. It may not be a big deal compared to whatever BS they will inevitably cook up later this season, but it's not nothing. And when they've been allowed to get away with so much, it invites people to feel bad about what they're doing even at a time they should not.

Admittedly, I don't know the ins and outs of the CBA or NHL contracts, but I feel like it'd open up a MUCH bigger can of worms if teams were allowed to put a player on LTIR without the player being able to meet the requirements needed to qualify for LTIR.

Again, they were getting that contract off the books regardless. Lehner didn't pass a physical, he couldn't be put on LTIR because of that, that's grounds for contract termination. Once that contract is terminated, his cap hit is gone anyway.

The only thing that's changed after that is Vegas deciding that they still want to pay the remainder of his contract and how to accomplish that. That's what the "unique situation" that's being referred to is.

 

[WreckingCrew]

Admittedly, I don't know the ins and outs of the CBA or NHL contracts, but I feel like it'd open up a MUCH bigger can of worms if teams were allowed to put a player on LTIR without the player being able to meet the requirements needed to qualify for LTIR.

Again, they were getting that contract off the books regardless. Lehner didn't pass a physical, he couldn't be put on LTIR because of that, that's grounds for contract termination. Once that contract is terminated, his cap hit is gone anyway.

The only thing that's changed after that is Vegas deciding that they still want to pay the remainder of his contract and how to accomplish that. That's what the "unique situation" that's being referred to is.

If the league allows that without penalty I can see a lot of "injured" guys in the future magically not being able to qualify for LTIR and having their contracts terminated, but still getting paid out of a team's "generosity". Isn't this the equivalent to paying someone "under the table"? If the team is paying him anything, it should count towards the cap hit, LTIR or not. Otherwise what's to stop the "mutual termination" of a bad contract only for the team to turn around and pay them "out of generosity", thereby getting out of the cap hit?

 

[A Star is Burns]

Admittedly, I don't know the ins and outs of the CBA or NHL contracts, but I feel like it'd open up a MUCH bigger can of worms if teams were allowed to put a player on LTIR without the player being able to meet the requirements needed to qualify for LTIR.

Again, they were getting that contract off the books regardless. Lehner didn't pass a physical, he couldn't be put on LTIR because of that, that's grounds for contract termination. Once that contract is terminated, his cap hit is gone anyway.

The only thing that's changed after that is Vegas deciding that they still want to pay the remainder of his contract and how to accomplish that. That's what the "unique situation" that's being referred to is.

From what I remember reading, I thought he did not show for the physical. Failing the physical seems like it would be grounds to be on LTIR, and I'd assume he'd fail it since he was expected to be on LTIR again.

 

[chaz4hockey]

Admittedly, I don't know the ins and outs of the CBA or NHL contracts, but I feel like it'd open up a MUCH bigger can of worms if teams were allowed to put a player on LTIR without the player being able to meet the requirements needed to qualify for LTIR.

Again, they were getting that contract off the books regardless. Lehner didn't pass a physical, he couldn't be put on LTIR because of that, that's grounds for contract termination. Once that contract is terminated, his cap hit is gone anyway.

The only thing that's changed after that is Vegas deciding that they still want to pay the remainder of his contract and how to accomplish that. That's what the "unique situation" that's being referred to is.

Vegas gets a lots of stick (often legit of course) but I give them credit for paying Lehner here.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

From what I remember reading, I thought he did not show for the physical. Failing the physical seems like it would be grounds to be on LTIR, and I'd assume he'd fail it since he was expected to be on LTIR again.

Well, apparently the mental health issue and financial issue that Lehner is dealing with is a gambling addiction. Which means the less time he spends at or near Vegas, the better for everyone involved.

 

[Lempo]

Otherwise what's to stop the "mutual termination" of a bad contract only for the team to turn around and pay them "out of generosity", thereby getting out of the cap hit?

In this case the third party creditors of Lehner may be an extra bump on the road, because if he were to mutually terminate a contract worth millions of dollars expected to go towards paying him debts, that would in all probability raise the issue of "debtor dishonesty" or whatever the punishable crime is called in the Americas.

It's a bad look for the league too if a player defaults on massive debts amassed courtesy of his status of a NHL player and his team was perceived as a co-actor in facilitating that. I guess someone inventive left out of their money might even come up with grounds for a nasty lawsuit there. Vegas paying the full of his contract gets the team amd the league off the hook for the potential bad optics.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Well, apparently the mental health issue and financial issue that Lehner is dealing with is a gambling addiction. Which means the less time he spends at or near Vegas, the better for everyone involved.

Which is why it comes back to they could have decided to keep him on LTIR instead of forgiving the cap hit. If the expectation was that was where he was going to be anyway, and I've not heard differently, then keep him on LTIR instead of doing something that benefits Vegas. Again, not the end of the world, but there were other ways to look out for the player that didn't help Vegas.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Which is why it comes back to they could have decided to keep him on LTIR instead of forgiving the cap hit. If the expectation was that was where he was going to be anyway, and I've not heard differently, then keep him on LTIR instead of doing something that benefits Vegas. Again, not the end of the world, but there were other ways to look out for the player that didn't help Vegas.

Again, nothing unsavory was done to help or benefit Vegas here. Lehner failed to show up for his physical, he’s failed to show up to camp. His contract is null and void, as far as the league is concerned. LTIR was no longer an option. All of that is above board and something that all teams have done and used in the past.

The only difference between a usual contract termination and this situation is that Vegas wanted to continue to pay Lehner’s contract, for the benefit of Lehner. Well, also probably to avoid the bad PR of terminating the contract of a guy with massive gambling debts, I’m sure.