When speaking about the recent hiring of Chris Pronger to the NHL Player Safety Department, Gary Bettman basically came out and said that the Flyers are circumventing the cap by keeping Pronger on LTIR. How can the NHL higher a supposedly active player? Check out Bettman's quote:
If Pronger was to officially retire, the Flyers would be hit with his cap charges. Leaving him on LTIR, however, means that while Pronger continues to "earn" his salary, his cap hit is not considered when calculating the Flyers' cap limits.
So here we have the issue of LTIR abuse, Bettman basically all but condoning it as a legitmate practice, AND a huge conflict of interest. Pronger, as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, cannot be considered impartial.. apparently he will not be involved in suspensions involving the Flyers, but what of their rivals? What happens when Pronger is influencing decisions on suspensions to players of the Pittsburgh Penguins, or the New York Rangers? In my opinion, all three of these are huge issues. Teams should not be allowed to abuse of the LTIR like this (though I must admit that I can't think of a way to make sure it doesn't happen). Certainly, the league's COMMISSIONER should not be endorsing such practices. And unequivocally, no one should be able to be both an employee of an NHL club AND an employee of the league.
Chris' case is unique. There are salary cap reasons why he couldn't officially retire, but he's done playing.
So here we have the issue of LTIR abuse, Bettman basically all but condoning it as a legitmate practice, AND a huge conflict of interest. Pronger, as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, cannot be considered impartial.. apparently he will not be involved in suspensions involving the Flyers, but what of their rivals? What happens when Pronger is influencing decisions on suspensions to players of the Pittsburgh Penguins, or the New York Rangers? In my opinion, all three of these are huge issues. Teams should not be allowed to abuse of the LTIR like this (though I must admit that I can't think of a way to make sure it doesn't happen). Certainly, the league's COMMISSIONER should not be endorsing such practices. And unequivocally, no one should be able to be both an employee of an NHL club AND an employee of the league.
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