Details behind the NHL's decision to allow Vegas off the hook concerning Lehner's contract

UPDATE: More details from NHL insider Frank Seravalli below.

Lehner, 33, is still expected to receive the $4.5 million owed to him this season. Sources indicated the Golden Knights had a strong case to fully terminate the deal, which would result in no pay, but they didn’t want to pursue that path – as they were only seeking salary cap relief. From the NHLPA perspective, protecting a player’s earnings was of the utmost importance, and the resulting salary cap change is mostly immaterial – resulting in the agreed upon settlement. His $4.5 million is still expected to count against the players’ share of the 50/50 revenue split with owners.

- Frank Seravalli

Read below for our full report on this developing story.

The Vegas Golden Knights have just caught a HUGE break when it comes to the NHL's salary cap rules... again.

Injured goaltender Robin Lehner neglected to report for the team's training camp last month under mysterious circumstances. The team stopped short of suspending Lehner though, despite the fact that he wasn't present for his annual team physical examination. You see, injured players have to physically report to camp and officially fail their medical examination in order to be eligible for long-term injury reserve (LTIR). Once a player is placed on LTIR the team gets to receive the salary cap relief, in Lehner's case they'd receive the full $5 million of his contract in salary relief. Except, Lehner didn't report so the team couldn't place him on LTIR. They could have opted to suspend Lehner without pay for contract breach or even make a case for terminating his contract, but the team chose not to do that either.

So... what gives?

Well, insider Frank Seravalli reports that a solution has been reached with regards to Lehner and that the Golden Knights will NOT have to place the goalie on LTIR and they will still receive the full $5 million relief on the salary cap. On top of that, Lehner will still get paid.

From Seravalli:

UPDATE: Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman has confirmed Seravalli's report:

Wait... what?

How is that fair?

There must be more to this than meets the eye.

Like I stated previously, the situation around Lehner has been a bit mysterious and he does have a history of addiction and mental health struggles. I'm seriously hoping that these decisions were made with Lehner's health struggles in mind and not the Golden Knights' salary cap struggles.

In the end though, the result is the same regardless of the intent. The NHL lets the Golden Knights off the hook... again.