The Canes took a page out of the Lightning's book and tricked the NHL' salary cap system

Three months later, on September 19, we learned that the defenseman would join the long-term injured list (LTIR). This personnel move freed up no less than $4.05M on the Canes' payroll. With Max Paciretty ($7M) also on the long-term injured list, Carolina currently has $6,806,667 on the LTIR above the cap and has the same amount of space to add players.

As the DobberHockey Twitter account mentions, what has happened in three months to make the situation so bad? Was he asked to come back unfit to play in order to free up space?

It's even more bizarre considering the Canes acquired Brent Burns, and his $5.28M salary on the block, a month after the declaration that Gardiner could play next season...

Source : HF