Nick Suzuki and the Montreal Canadiens couldn’t help but dream.

The Habs had just upset the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, before sweeping the Winnipeg Jets and defeating the Vegas Golden Knights.

The NHL’s second and final season shortened by the coronavirus pandemic — which split teams into new divisions — would culminate in a duel between the Bleu-blanc-rouge and the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup final series.

Suzuki, then in his second full NHL season, quickly realized his team was at a disadvantage against the opposition.

The move to the long-term injured list put the Lightning nearly $18 million over the league’s $81.5 million salary cap — which doesn’t apply in the playoffs — entering the spring tournament.
“It didn’t help us,” Suzuki agreed.

And all this, of course, respected the established rules.

Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov missed the shortened 56-game season after hip surgery but was ready for the first playoff game. The Russian finished the playoffs leading the league in scoring, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL’s playoff MVP and helping the Lightning win their second straight Stanley Cup.

Kucherov’s $9.5 million salary never counted against the Lightning’s payroll during the regular season. The Lightning took into account long-term injured list rules — a player must be sidelined for at least 10 regular-season games and 24 days for a club to receive relief — and maneuvered with its personnel in a unique way.

Questions persist

The NHL is monitoring the system to ensure teams are following it, but many questions remain after the Lightning triumphed in 2021 and the Golden Knights replicated the scheme en route to the title in 2023.

The Lightning made no bones about their 2021 triumph, with Kucherov even wearing a T-shirt that read “$18M over the cap” during the team’s festivities.

“There’s clearly a flaw in the system,” said Suzuki, the Canadiens’ captain. “Teams have the freedom to take advantage of it or not. It’s a taboo subject.”

“If you enjoy it, you appreciate it. If not…,” he added.

The Lightning and Golden Knights, who have repeatedly defended the scheme by saying it fully complied with long-term injured list rules, didn’t invent anything.

The Chicago Blackhawks placed Patrick Kane on long-term injured reserve in February 2015, and the star returned in the playoffs — along with several newcomers — and led the Illinois club to its third Stanley Cup victory in six years.

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon agrees the system should be revised, but he doesn’t believe a player should agree to stay out while healthy solely for administrative reasons.

“Guys want to play,” he said. “It would be tough to sit out the game from the trade deadline on and wait. I still believe teams and players act ethically.”

“But it’s obviously unfortunate,” he acknowledged.

For his part, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly mentioned that the majority of the 32 NHL teams want to see reform of the system, but he recalled that the way to account for space on a team’s payroll during the regular season is very complex.

“Most [general managers] would like us to consider making some adjustments,” Daly said. “We’ll take a look at it.”

One thing is for sure, Suzuki, who took part in a series that seemed settled in advance, wants the rules on the long-term injured list to be changed.

“Some teams have benefited greatly from it,” he said. “Sometimes you get it by luck, and sometimes it seems like it’s part of the strategy. I’m not in the doctor’s office. I don’t know what’s going on with those teams.

“It could be much fairer,” he said.

But he strongly doubts it.