The Dallas Stars will place forward Tyler Seguin on long-term injured reserve for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
Seguin sustained an ACL injury in early December and hasn’t played since. He was expected to miss the rest of the season, but his playoff status hadn’t been confirmed.
By ruling Seguin out for the postseason, the Stars will receive full salary-cap relief for the veteran’s $9.85-million cap hit.
Dallas is currently using $3.82 million of Seguin’s cap hit as relief and will be eligible to use the remainder once he’s officially on LTIR, according to PuckPedia.
The additional cap space gives Dallas flexibility to make moves before the trade deadline. The Stars are currently in playoff position and could use the extra room to add depth.
The NHL modified its LTIR rules last offseason to prevent teams from stashing injured players until the playoffs and then activating them without any cap penalties. The new rules ensure teams can’t manipulate the salary cap by keeping players on LTIR through the regular season only to bring them back for postseason play.
Seguin, 34, notched 17 points in 27 games before being injured.
He has one season remaining on his contract after this year. The pending unrestricted free agent will need to prove he can return to form following the ACL injury as he enters the final stages of his career.
