The Boston Bruins made another big trade on Thursday morning, but it came at a cost beyond mere draft picks.

Boston announced Thursday that it is placing forward Taylor Hall on long-term injured reserve. That’s a big swerve from the night of his lower body injury, when head coach Jim Montgomery said didn’t believe it to be serious.

The Bruins also announced that they’ve placed forward Nick Foligno on injured reserve. But it’s Hall to LTIR that has further implications.

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• Per CapFriendly, the move creates $6 million in LTIR cap space for the Bruins. The acquisition of Tyler Bertuzzi from the Red Wings will add $2.375 million back to the cap, giving them a total of $3.625 million in LTIR space.

  The Bruins may not have the cap space to be able to activate Hall off LTIR before the start of the playoffs. But there’s no cap in the postseason, so obviously the hope will be that Hall can recover from his injury in time for that.

  This would be a similar circumvention of cap rules that the Tampa Bay Lightning infamously did in 2021, when they kept Nikita Kucherov on LTIR for the entire 2020-21 season on a $9.5 million cap hit then activated him for the playoffs. They won the Stanley Cup that year, and Kucherov led the league in playoff scoring.

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  Feb 25, 2023; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Taylor Hall (71) skates between play during the third period against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

• Tampa’s much-maligned 2021 LTIR move was technically legal, but widely viewed as at best an egregious abuse of the rules. What the Bruins are doing here with Hall is not nearly as bad. If the Lightning’s cap circumvention didn’t result in the closing of the loophole, the Bruins’ move probably won’t.

  For now, the Bruins will have to roll with two replacement left wings for their bottom-six. Their projected LWs for Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres are A.J. Greer on the third line and Jakub Lauko on the fourth line. The expectation is that Bertuzzi, a left-shot forward, will slide in for Lauko once he arrives in Boston.

  We’re likely to see Bertuzzi’s first game as a Bruin on Saturday afternoon in a matinée against the New York Rangers, who also loaded up with the additions of Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko. It is most certainly going to be a compelling next few months on Causeway Street.

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  VANCOUVER, CANADA – FEBRUARY 25: Taylor Hall #71 of the Boston Bruins skates with the puck ahead of Andrei Kuzmenko #96 of the Vancouver Canucks during the second period of their NHL game at Rogers Arena on February 25, 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images)

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  Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @realmattdolloff. Check out all of Matt’s content here.

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