Quoting: Campabee
Yes I is ridiculous that Tampa was allowed to circumvent the cap and when other teams (Toronto and Montreal) started doing it at the deadline they got warning that there would be an investigation if their players returned conveniently for the playoffs. They are over the cap by 19 Million that means they should have to play without 2 of Stamkos, Kucherov, Headman or Vasilevsky in order to be cap compliant. How far do you think they could have gotten without any 2 of those Guys? I bet they couldn't make it out of the first round!
Montreal didn't even put anyone on LTIR until a few weeks past trade deadline. They did not attempt to go over the cap.
Maybe Toronto had a thought to do so, but I don't follow Toronto.
As for Tampa bay yes; If Kucherov is not even a member of the Tampa bay lightning, they are still a top tier team. More skill than Toronto, more speed, one of the best goaltenders and defense cores in the league. If kucherov wasn't on the ice, someone else would of been and I would think it's very likely that they would still be in the Stanley cup finals. The games would of played out differently but they'd still be in the finals.
Tampa is leagues ahead of any other team when it comes to depth, talent, speed, scoring and defense.
Not even Colorado comes close to them.
Without Kucherov listed on their roster; they would still be the top contender in the league