The Lupul Situation
- Thread starter Kin
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Guru Tugginmypuddah
Active member
Touring Europe drinking beer and eating is a great way to get in shape for the upcoming NHL season.
Lupul looks very out of playing shape in his instagram photos.
Lupul looks very out of playing shape in his instagram photos.
Also, if Lupul REALLY wanted to play hockey in the NHL and wanted a fresh start, he could easily agree to mutually terminate his contract and go look for an opportunity elsewhere.
Kin
New member
CarltonTheBear said:
I don't think Lupul's aim here was to sound as if he's terribly unhappy with what's going on. I think he was saying that the reason he's goofing off is because he has effectively been asked by the Leafs to not play and as a result isn't concerned with trying to pass a physical the team doesn't want him to pass.
Still, I imagine for a guy his age I bet he bristles at the suggestion that the reason he's not playing is because he can't, as opposed to the plainly obvious fact that the Leafs don't want him to.
Coco-puffs
New member
Nik the Trik said:
Based on his skating prior to his last injury, he's in no way an NHL player anymore. Who knows how much worse it might be after the last surgery (but we don't know that for sure). I'm sure he THINKS he can still play in the NHL but the Leafs would have demoted him or bought him out by now (or traded him as a cap dump).
So, Leafs buy him out he gets less money and probably can't sign anywhere to recoup the money lost. Demoted to AHL would hurt his pride even more, and I bet he wouldn't report. Mutually agreed termination he loses all his remaining salary. In reality, as bitter as he may be about it- not playing right now and collecting the full cheque is probably for the best for him. Doesn't mean he isn't still bitter about it as we've seen.
As for the NHL investigating whether he's "medically fit"... the CBA says the PA has to file a grievance on behalf of the player for the NHL to get involved, with the PA, to have another assessment done. Otherwise, the NHL can't ask for their own assessment. At least that is my understanding. Someone posted the relevant section from the CBA last night on twitter but I can't find it now.
Zee
Active member
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
Would the NHLPA really be against what the Leafs are doing? They're paying Lupul (an NHLPA member) not to play. They didn't buy him out, they're not disputing what he's owed, they're paying him. They're also paying someone else to play in a spot that Lupul would normally play. So in effect, the Leafs have actually created more money for the NHLPA by paying 2 players instead of one.
Coco-puffs
New member
Coco-puffs said:
Well shit... I was wrong. Here is the section from the CBA, posted by someone else now
https://twitter.com/billius27/status/909781477310771202
League can in fact challenge the medical assessment. Player can also ask PA to file grievance on it.
I do wonder if the wording on that section matters. Medically unfit to play could even mean able to live an active lifestyle- but not in good enough physical condition to actually play in the NHL. Definite grey area.
Kin
New member
Coco-puffs said:
Again, I don't read any bitterness about his situation here. I think he resents the implication he can't play and is stating what I think we all know which is that if the Leafs really wanted him to be playing he probably could.
You might be right that time and injuries have eroded his skills to the point where he'd be a fringe-y NHL player at best but that's a far cry from "physically unable to play".
Kin
New member
I mean to some extent there's just a simple logical progression here. One of these three things has to be true:
1. Joffrey Lupul is so badly injured that not only did he fail his physical but he really had no chance of passing his physical. This despite no real word on what his injury is short of a hernia surgery and it not really seeming to negatively affect his life at all(compared to, say, Nathan Horton who has trouble getting around and picking up his kids)
2. There was a chance of Lupul passing his physical but the Leafs, throwing caution to the wind, spent to the cap anyway and figured they'd just improvise something if Lupul passed his physical.
3. Lupul is effectively telling the truth.
Sometimes, sometimes, you can Occam's Razor it.
1. Joffrey Lupul is so badly injured that not only did he fail his physical but he really had no chance of passing his physical. This despite no real word on what his injury is short of a hernia surgery and it not really seeming to negatively affect his life at all(compared to, say, Nathan Horton who has trouble getting around and picking up his kids)
2. There was a chance of Lupul passing his physical but the Leafs, throwing caution to the wind, spent to the cap anyway and figured they'd just improvise something if Lupul passed his physical.
3. Lupul is effectively telling the truth.
Sometimes, sometimes, you can Occam's Razor it.
disco
New member
CarltonTheBear said:
This. I'd totally root for him if his true desire was to play again. Anything else strikes me as disingenuous. Either do this or happily take the money not to play. And of course the Leafs are doing their do diligence to squeeze every available penny out of the system. The salary-cap is a failure in many ways.
Zee
Active member
Nik the Trik said:
There's an option you're missing.
4. Lupul is physically able to play but agreed to sit out and collect his money. Unless he took all year to recover from the summer of 2016 where they first said he wasn't able to play, it seems fishy that he's suddenly fit. He was probably annoyed with people saying he's fragile and made a comment on instagram that he now regrets. If he stands by it, why did he delete his comment?
LuncheonMeat
New member
I thought it was interesting that Lupul said that the Leafs cheat, and everyone let's them, and then Kadri liked his comment. Well done, Naz.
WhatIfGodWasALeaf
Active member
LuncheonMeat said:
Naz liked the picture, the comments were Lupul replying to a fan after he posted.
Bill_Berg
Active member
Frank E said:
I would agree, but surely they are somewhat aware of this situation and would have either taken action last year, or already be prepared to do it this year. I don't think Lupul's comments add much to the situation other than flaring up the media.
If he's healthy, then he would either be shocked he failed, and presumably run to the NHLPA, or there's some agreement between him and the Leafs. Perhaps he's changing his mind on that agreement, but it's more likely he didn't realize his Instrgram comment would go viral and is back peddling now. When the NHLPA comes knocking I'm sure his hernia will have returned adequately. That's assuming something underhanded is ever happening in the first place, which I'm not sold on.
LuncheonMeat
New member
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
Ahhh... that's a little different than the way they spun it on FAN 590 this morning.
Kin
New member
Zee said:
That's not materially different than just saying he's telling the truth. He didn't say what was happening to him was against his will, again he hasn't filed a grievance, just that the "physical" he failed was a farce and he was capable of coming back if they wanted him to.
Coco-puffs
New member
One last thing to note:
Leafs haven't placed Lupul on LTIR. Only Horton. Lupul was on regular IR last year as they never exceeded the cap by more than Horton's salary. So, really they aren't skirting the cap, just a roster spot- which the could solve by demoting him (of course, can't demote someone who's injured
)
Leafs haven't placed Lupul on LTIR. Only Horton. Lupul was on regular IR last year as they never exceeded the cap by more than Horton's salary. So, really they aren't skirting the cap, just a roster spot- which the could solve by demoting him (of course, can't demote someone who's injured
)