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Fans Raise Questions About Panthers' Use of LTIR Following Stanley Cup Victory

Originally posted on Blade of Steel | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 3:34 PM ET

The NHL is reportedly looking to change the LTIR rules moving forward, and now fans have called them out for allowing the Panthers to exploit them this season.

For years now, the Long Term Injured Reserve has been exploited by NHL teams, with the likes of Mark Stone and Nikita Kucherov in particular becoming key pieces of Stanley Cup runs after their teams did just that.

Now, the NHL is reportedly set to investigate the Edmonton Oilers and their use of the LTIR loophole with Evander Kane, according to top NHL Insider Frank Seravalli.

Unsurprisingly, that has prompted many fans to call the league out for allowing the Florida Panthers to do the exact same thing this season, as Matthew Tkachuk was also on LTIR until the playoffs, allowing the team to acquire key defenseman Seth Jones in a deal with the Blackhawks.

On top of that, Oilers fans are furious that their team is being singled out despite Florida, Vegas and Tampa Bay all exploiting the rules in recent years, with many believing this has something to do with Gary Bettman's supposed bias around Canadian teams.

This is going to be something the NHL need to change, and with talks around no-tax states getting major advantages, something has to be done to stop teams exploiting the LTIR loopholes, and that should mean investigating more than just Kane and the Edmonton Oilers.

Ultimately though, what's done is done, and the Panthers are now back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, and although fans aren't happy about how they exploited the rules to make this team even more deep and loaded, it's highly unlikely that the NHL will look into them at this point.

This article first appeared on Blade of Steel and was syndicated with permission.

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