hangman005
Have I told you I miss Logan Thompson
My suspicion would because players see playoffs as so important, they'll exaggerate how manageable an injury is in order to play. 22/23 If Tkachuk had the injuries he had game 4 and 5 of the SCF. There is no way in hell he is playing regular seasons games., but he played game 4. If Florida won he probably toughs it out and plays game 5, In this hypothetical I don't think anyone would say he should have played those regular season games despite being willing to tough it.Why are they remaining on LTIR when they can play through their injuries though? If they're medically cleared to play, which is the only way they'd be allowed to play, even in the PO, they should not be on LTIR. How can you argue that the optics aren't just complete shit in this case?
Put another way, lets say 100% is the best a player has ever felt, and lets arbitrarily say 75% in medically cleared play. At game 82 a player may only be at 55% 60%, Lets say by game 1 they are at 60-65% A play would likely be willing suck it any remains nags and niggles so they can get that clearance The player isn't at that level to get medically cleared.... but their willing to say they are. Playoffs are a different beast, who was that Jets player cut his face on a skate, 70+ stitches, game 74 of the regular season, he's probably done for the night, a playoff game, you bet your ass he's coming back.
I'm not saying the opposite is not conceivable, it absolutely is but the narrative they are being held out when healthy makes less sense to me than they are coming back early because playoff. Especially watching Mark Stone vs Dallas, He was so obviously still not ready to be back I feel he hindered more than helped the team.