Earlier this season, specifically in the week leading up to the trade deadline, Gary Bettman and the NHL issued a statement that teams would be closely monitored with their payroll and players on the long-term injured list. This warning was meant to curb some teams, who would have had the strategy of acquiring players and going over the salary cap, but being legitimate by using the long term injured list. However, the Golden Knights seem to have ignored this warning, as they have spent the remaining 7.25 million of Mark Stone's salary and he is magically back in training just before the playoffs. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1645487621261475841?t=ZQ7ioALJK7dNCGadMnZT7A&s=19'> </a></blockquote></div> Let's face it, the Golden Knights captain's recurring back injuries are not in question here, but rather the timing of his return to the game. It's not unlike the strategy the Lightning adopted a few seasons ago with Nikita Kucherov.