This is all tongue and cheek, but the Toronto Maple Leafs should find a way to keep John Tavares on injured reserve until the playoffs.
Before you get mad at me, please take this article with a grain of salt. I understand that a team can't just put a player who isn't injured on Injured Reserve (IR) until the playoffs and return Game 1, but let's just imagine they could for a minute. Let's consider that other teams have done it, and that manipulating the rules to your advantage isn't considered cheating.
Over the past few years, there have been multiple examples of players being "too injured" to return in the regular season than they have magically appeared healthy at the start of the playoffs. The biggest example of this was with Nikita Kucherov, as he missed the entire regular season and then returned in the playoffs, scoring 32 points in 23 games, ultimately helping his team win a Stanley Cup.
The reason this sparked a ton of debate was because the Lightning were able to use Kucherov's $9.5M salary to fix their salary-cap issues and then add him back for free in the playoffs. The salary-cap doesn't exist in the playoffs, so the team was able to manuever everything to make their team as strong as possible without occuring any penalties.
As we all know, John Tavares makes $11M and eats up a ton of the team's salary cap. Imagine if the Leafs were able to use that salary for another few players, but then add him back healthy for the playoffs? They'd essentially have the ability to make their cake and eat it too, and that could finally be the biggest differential in winning a Stanley Cup.
Adding Another $11M in Salary Would Be "Dream" Scenario for Leafs
It may sound like cheating or a bad way to secure an advantage, but if the injury is legitimate and Tavares thinks he needs a little extra time to heal, it would be legal within the rule books. Obviously this injury comes at a time where the playoffs are still three months away, but wouldn't you think that Tavares would potentially look at reaggrevating this injury if it meant a better chance at winning?
With $11 million, the Leafs could pursue any player they wanted. Erik Karlsson is thought to be available and is highly likely to be the prize of the trade deadline this year. But in the past several seasons we've seen Bo Horvat, Noah Hanifin, Jake Guentzel and Timo Meir change teams. Stars will be available, even if we don't yet know which ones.
As mentioned off the top, this idea is a pipe-dream and I personally don't want Tavares to have suffered an injury that requires him out of the line-up for three months, or don't want him to fake anything to get a little better. However, the Leafs would be "lucky" (I say that term lightly) to have one of their star players miss enough time that requires them to be put on IR, but be healthy enough to return for Game 1 of the playoffs.