Why LTIR use is on the rise, and how it’s about to impact your team

A record 16 NHL clubs placed players on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) last season. Thirteen teams are poised to use it at the start of the upcoming season, including the Toronto Maple Leafs. LTIR allows the team to potentially exceed the cap by an amount commonly referred to as the “LT IR Pool”. There are two methods for determining a team’s LT IR pool.

The LTIR pool is the player's cap hit minus the team cap space available at the time. Teams often make roster moves before a player goes on LT IR to be as close to the cap as possible.

The league's $82.5 million cap is the maximum amount a team can exceed it with an injured player. The team tries to be as close to the cap as possible. Any additional players going on LTIR throughout the season have their cap hit added to existing LT IR pool.

There are 13 teams that are planning to use LTIR this season. LT IR teams do not accrue cap space during the year. Performance bonuses earned by players during a season are carried over and added to the team's cap hit for the following season, so 14 teams have performance bonus overages from 2021-22 on their 2022-23 cap sheets.

Shea Weber, Robin Lehner, Laurent Brossoit and Nolan Patrick are LTIR candidates.

Nic Hague's contract is a wildcard. Vegas has 22 players on its projected active roster. Placing Weber, Lehner, and Patrick on LTIR would total $14.06 million.

Carey Price, Joel Edmundson and Paul Byron are LTIR candidates.

Canadiens have players injured to start the season. Montreal is close to $10.5 million over the cap. Juraj Slafkovsky is on the opening roster. Arber Xhekaj is not Corey Schueneman.

Brent Seabrook, Zach Bogosian and Anthony Cirelli are LTIR candidates.

Tampa can exceed the cap by $7.725 million. They could send down Philippe Myers, send Gage Goncalves and a $750,000 forward and call up Garett Fortier. The next day, Tampa could place Cirelli on LTIR and add his $4.8 million cap hit to their LT IR pool.

Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson and Carl Hagelin are LTIR candidates.

Washington can exceed the cap by $7.917 million. Wilson and Hagelin could be placed on LTIR. Backstrom could also be put on IR.

Oscar Klefbom, Mike Smith and Tyler Benson are LTIR candidates.

The Oilers have a projected roster of $7,116,835. The maximum possible LTIR pool is $ 7,117,000. If the pool exceeds it, the Oilers will send Devin Shore, Dmitri Samorukov, Derek Ryan or Mattias Janmark to the minors.

Anthony Duclair is one of the LTIR candidates.

The Panthers are $4 million over the cap. They need to clear $1 million to be cap compliant.

Michael Ferland, Brock Boeser, Ilya Mikheyev and Travis Dermott are LTIR candidates.

The Canucks are $4.9 million over the cap. If Mikheyev is not eligible for LTIR, Ferland and Dermott could be placed on IR. Tyler Myers would start on LT IR in this scenario.

Why LTIR use is on the rise and how it's about to impact your team.

Jake Gardiner and Max Pacioretty are LTIR candidates.

Carolina waived/sent down Martinook and is $4,036,084 over the cap. Pyotr Kochetkov and Rees are on the roster. They are $13,916 below the max $ 4.05 million for Gardiner. Carolina could put Pacioretty on LTIR to add his $7 million as cap space.

Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk are LTIR candidates.

The Boston Bruins have a roster of 23 players, including 15 forwards, six defencemen and two goalies. The roster is $3,730,833 over the cap. They could waive Chris Wagner, demote Lauko and recall John Beecher and Fabian Lysell.

John Tavares is worth $11 million. Pierre Engvall is $2.25 million, Timothy Liljegren $1.4 million and Jordie Benn $750,000.

The Leafs could make moves to maximize their LTIR pool.

Marco Scandella and Scott Perunovich are LTIR candidates.

The Blues have 23 players on the roster, including two players who are on injured reserve. The roster is $3,273,334 over the cap. They could add Perunovich to the IR and get rid of Brady Lyle.

Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis and Patrick Brown are LTIR candidates for Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers have a lot of injured players. Patrick Brown, Cameron York and Ryan Ellis are LTIR eligible. The Flyers are $442,000 over the cap. They could add Ellis and Couturier to LT IR and add their cap hits to their available cap space. The other option would be to flip York or Attard at a later date.

Jonathan Bernier is a candidate for LTIR.

New Jersey will submit an opening roster that is under the salary cap. Pittsburgh does not have anyone injured that appears to qualify for LTIR. San Jose has players with low cap hits with what appear to be short-term injuries. They are better off accruing cap space to start the year and only setting an LT IR pool if they incur additional injuries and need the cap money.