The Maple Leafs announced that Trevor Moore, who has been practising with the team lately, has been loaned to the AHL for a conditioning stint.

Cap Friendly has listed this as the LTIR-type of conditioning loan, so that means it’s this sort:

3.9 Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception Conditioning Loan.

A Player who is on the Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception as set forth in Article 50 may, with his consent, during the term of such Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception (but in no event during the first fourteen (14) calendar days and six (6) NHL Games), be Loaned on a Conditioning Loan (the “Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception Conditioning Loan”) for a period not to exceed up to the longer of six (6) days and three (3) games, solely for the purpose of determining whether the Player is fit to play. If the Club determines that it needs more time to assess the Player’s fitness to play, the Club may file a written request with the Commissioner’s Office, with a copy to the NHLPA, in accordance with Exhibit 3 hereof, to extend the Loan for an additional two (2) games. The Commissioner, upon good cause, may approve the one-time extension. The commissioner’s approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. A Player on a Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception Conditioning Loan will continue to be listed on Injured Reserve and will not count against the Club’s 23-man roster limit. The Club’s Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Exception will continue until the Conditioning Loan ends, and his Paragraph 1 NHL Salary and Bonuses will continue to count against the Club’s Upper Limit and the Players’ Share during such time. The Commissioner may take whatever steps he deems necessary to investigate the circumstances under which a Player is placed on a Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Conditioning Loan. If he has reason to believe or determines that the Club has used the Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Conditioning Loan to evade waivers or otherwise to Circumvent any provision of this Agreement, he may take other disciplinary action against the Club as he deems appropriate. A Bona Fide Long-Term Injury/Illness Conditioning Loan may be extended on one occasion. This procedure can only be used once during each period of time that the Player is on a Bona Fide Long-Term Injury Exception.

The highlights: This lasts for six days and three games, but can be extended for two more games. It’s unlikely the league would raise any issue with an extension. The player has to have been on IR for at least two weeks . The player is considered to still be on IR while in the AHL, and they don’t count towards the 23-man roster limit, and they stay on LTIR while they are on loan.

This is not a loophole, cap circumvention or a dastardly deed. This rule exists to make sure a player is fully ready to play in the NHL after being on IR for a long period of time. Moore was placed on IR on December 28 after first suffering a shoulder injury and then sustaining a concussion in practice.

The next three Marlies games are this Saturday and Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina, and then the following Friday in Cleveland. That is, however, seven days, even if we don’t count today. So to cover that Friday game, the Leafs would have to ask for an extension after this weekend’s games are over. They would then be allowed to play Moore in the final two games before the AHL All-Star Break, and then he would return to the Leafs on Sunday, January 26, just as the NHL All-Star Break ends, and the Leafs return to their regular practice and game schedule with a road trip to Nashville that Monday.

The Leafs have no salary cap issues at this time with $9 million worth of defencemen on LTIR. Moore can return to the lineup, or remain in limbo as an extra player, if he’s not quite ready, once this conditioning loan is over.

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