He had f***ing hip surgery in December!!! He was probably "skating" like my grandma for the first few weeks.
I don't understand the Stamkos point. Didn't Kucherov not play a single regular season game?
Really, I think TB just "benefitted" from the timing of the injuries as far as the cap s*** goes.
I actually would not care either way if there is a rule change. If the NHL wants to have the salary cap apply to the playoffs, that's fine. What I find disagreeable is that idea that Nikita Kucherov would willingly not play games for any extended period of time, if he was completely healthy. I don't think professional athletes think like that. Maybe he'd understand if the team said, hey sit out these last couple of games so we can squeeze the cap, but anything longer than that? The guy is chasing personal accomplishments and points totals, trying to climb up the career leaderboards and become a hall of famer, etc.