Gary Bettman and the NHL officially make their ruling on Robin Lehner's contract situation

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Tom Banks
October 3, 2024 (8:42 PM)

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Robin Lehner won't take the ice for the Vegas Golden Knights again this season, and now we know exactly what will happen with his contract.

The Vegas Golden Knights are known for their use of the salary cap and exploiting the LTIR rules the NHL have put in place, and now, it appears the league won't force them to use that this season. According to Elliotte Friedman, the $5 million owed to goaltender Robin Lehner this season will not count towards the salary cap, and while the team will still have to pay that, they won't need to place him on LTIR to avoid that money counting towards the cap.

While this is a fair ruling for the NHL to make after Lehner has missed the last two seasons, it's no surprise that fans are outraged with the decision, as it may be seen as Gary Bettman and the league favouring the Golden Knights once more.

It may look like that on the surface, but after missing two straight years, this is a very unique situation, and with the league not wanting to force the team to pay a player that won't play again, this ruling appears to be a fair one.

This will be huge for the Golden Knights in 2024/25, as they are once again looking to go deep in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and with the team in need of some serious help on the wing, this will allow them the cap space to make a deal happen. As for Lehner, it's unclear what his future will hold, as the 33-year old hasn't played a game since 2021, and with his bankruptcy issues off the ice playing a factor in his life, he may never play in the NHL again.

For now though, this was a ruling that made sense for the NHL, Lehner and the Golden Knights, and now we will wait and see what Vegas can do with this extra cap space.

Source: MarkerZone
Robin Lehner's fate officially confirmed by Gary Bettman and the NHL