Robin Lehner's Unusual Settlement Has Implications for Vegas and Lessons for Ottawa Senators

NHLPA reached an agreement regarding Robin Lehner’s contract situation in Vegas. Lehner, formerly an Ottawa Senator, has not played an NHL game since April 20, 2022. Since August of 2016, Swedish goaltender Anders Kallstrom underwent hip surgery and has spent two seasons on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). To remain on this roster, injured players must submit for a medical evaluation every 30 days at team headquarters. When players fail to report as scheduled, organizations have grounds to terminate their contract without penalty; any money due or cap hits would come off of the books immediately. When Lehner failed to appear as scheduled in Vegas, this action was within their rights; no penalties would apply in such an instance. Lehner had one season remaining of his five-year, $25 million contract signed with the NHL in October 2020. Lehner earned recognition by receiving their Bill Masterton Trophy award as being an example of perseverance, sportsmanship and commitment to hockey. Goaltender Alex Chiasson enjoyed an outstanding 2018-19 campaign. After disclosing addiction and mental health concerns during training camp, Lehner managed to post an impressive 25-13-5 record with 2.13 GAA and.930 save percentage across 46 appearances for Vegas. At the start of training camp Kelly McCrimmon made it clear that Lehner’s absence was anticipated and an amicable solution would soon be worked on by all parties involved. “He continues to be unfit to play,” stated General Manager Sean Lavin to reporters. He noted there are special circumstances involved with this case which the NHL, NHLPA and club are currently working through together. “Eventually, both parties reached an accord where Lehner will receive his entire $4.4 million salary for 2024-25 while no longer count towards their salary cap. Ellisette Friedman appeared on Sportsnet’s The Fan Hockey Show where he provided additional insights into this matter.” “The way it was explained to me was as though his contract has been terminated except that he’ll still get paid,” Friedman noted. “This situation is unique; everyone worked diligently on finding an avenue that worked.” From what I understand about it, this seems to be an ideal compromise between player and organization; Lehner will continue getting paid while Vegas gets some relief. Vegas may appear strange when receiving financial help while Lehner has been placed on the Long Term Injury Reserve since 2022. By giving them this chance to move away from his cap hit and start the regular season cap-compliantly without needing the LTIR as backup plan, Vegas will begin 2019-20 as cap compliant team. So in essence, by being below the cap ceiling threshold, Vegas is able to amass cap space that should pay dividends by March 7’s trade deadline. Lehner remains unfit to play so it would have made more sense for them to temporarily place him on Long-term Injury Reserve without needing medical evaluation; unfortunately though, due to league policies the optics portray Vegas as receiving preferential treatment and serve as an object lesson to Michael Andlauer and his Senators; that loud voices often get heard! Andlauer was kept informed during the sales process regarding important matters; the league and Eugene Melnyk’s estate mislead him into believing the LeBreton Flats arena deal was further along than it actually was. Evgenii Dadonov situation had become so serious, the NHL took action last October by sanctioning them with forfeiting one first-round pick for failing to disclose his no-trade list status. As management incorrectly asserted when trading Dadonov to Vegas from Senators in 2021, Dadonov did not submit an updated list of teams he did not wish to trade with and thus nullifying his no-trade clause. When Vegas attempted to deal Dadonov to Anaheim at 2022 trade deadline despite correctly submitting trade list with Anaheim included on it; his camp then claimed they submitted trade list correctly with Anaheim being on it! Vegas was visibly outraged that Dadonov won his case and successfully convinced the league of this fact, leading them to aggressively demand that Senators receive punishment as a result of this ruling. Pierre Dorion was dismissed for negligence and incompetence; anyone responsible during that period has since left. Since arriving in Ottawa, Andlauer has begrudgingly accepted this punishment despite having been misled on multiple fronts to increase sale price of Ottawa Senators organization; it is understandable why he would feel frustrated about both estate management and league administration. If a seller intentionally misrepresented key items at the time of sale, he needs to learn from Vegas and make his voice heard.Related Articles: Young Ottawa Senators Rally Late In Detroit To Defeat Veteran Red Wings 4-3 In OvertimeRelated Articles: Former Ottawa Senators General Manager Pierre Dorion Lands New JobRelated Articles: Travis Green Cancels Training Camp “Country Club”