Six NHL teams currently project to exceed the salary cap, but they'll likely use the LTIR to save themselves the trouble of dropping below the cap ceiling.

As they enter the last season of what's expected to be the last season of limited salary-cap growth, GMs around the NHL have learned every loophole and squeezed every penny of space out of their league's cost-certainty framework.

Long-term injured reserve (LTIR) is essentially the only tool that allows those GMs to exceed the salary-cap ceiling. That's valuable, but there's also a significant drawback. Teams that dip into LTIR can't accrue unused cap space and use it later in the year — most commonly, to add depth to their rosters at the trade deadline.

When LTIR support is required at the beginning of the season, there's a knack to maximizing the benefit. Managers need to get their season-opening rosters as close as possible to using every dollar of relief that's available.

Last year, with the salary-cap ceiling at $82.5 million, 13 of the NHL's 32 teams started the season in LTIR. Demonstrating that practice can make perfect, five of those 13 teams got their Accruable Cap Space Limit (ACSL) within $200 of the maximum that was available to them. The Vancouver Canucks became the first team in NHL history to match their LTIR number exactly, and the Toronto Maple Leafs came within $4. 

With just under two months to go before teams declare their opening-day rosters on Oct. 9, PuckPedia shows just six teams over the salary-cap ceiling this summer.

Here's a look at the details of those six situations.

Toronto Maple Leafs

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PuckPedia's cap estimate for Toronto is based on a 21-player roster, two below the maximum. 

Matthew Knies is one of those 21 players and is waiver exempt. After his strong debut last season, having Knies on the season-opening roster would likely be the preferred course of action. But if there are no injuries or other roster moves, Knies can be assigned to the Toronto Marlies in order to bring the Leafs into compliance for opening day.

Tampa Bay Lightning

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Compared to the cap gymnastics that Lightning GM Julien BriseBois has executed in past seasons, this year is a walk in the park. PuckPedia shows the Lightning can comply with a 22-player opening-night roster, with nearly $300,000 in wiggle room to spare.

It's a good thing, too. After draining their draft stock and prospect pool while chasing their Stanley Cups, the Lightning aren't projected to have a single waiver-exempt player on their season-opening roster.

Colorado Avalanche

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With knee surgery keeping captain Gabriel Landeskog off the ice for a second straight season, GM Chris MacFarland gets $7 million in potential cap relief.

After being forced to pare down his roster significantly following the Avs' 2022 Stanley Cup win, MacFarland shored up his forward depth this summer by adding Ryan Johansen, Ross Colton, Miles Wood and Jonathan Drouin. 

PuckPedia's cap estimate is based on a 23-player roster — and forward Ben Meyers is still waiver exempt if he needs to be assigned to the AHL for cap reasons.

As things currently stand, MacFarland has just over $2 million in additional space available if he wants to maximize his ACSL. We could see more moves from the Mile High City before opening-day rosters are set.

Vancouver Canucks

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At first glance, the Canucks look like they're in good shape, with about $1.3 million in available cap space once their LTIR candidates are factored in.

The wrinkle here is that GM Patrik Allvin said on July 1 that Tanner Pearson has recovered after multiple surgeries to repair a hand injury that caused him to miss 68 games last season.

If the 31-year-old does get back onto the main roster, that changes the landscape considerably. The LTIR pool would drop to just $2.5 million (Tucker Poolman). And Pearson, at $3.25 million, would take the roster spot of another left winger. 

The Canucks continue to have a surplus of wingers, and many of them play both sides. So a left winger wouldn't necessarily have to be moved off the roster to make room for Pearson.

Brock Boeser and Conor Garland, who both play primarily on the right, have been near-constant fixtures on trade-bait boards. But the Canucks don't necessarily have to make a deal to get cap compliant, even if Pearson is healthy.

Two Vancouver forwards and one defenseman on PuckPedia's 23-player roster are waiver exempt: right wing Vasily Podkolzin, center Nils Aman and defenseman Akito Hirose.

Aman acquitted himself reasonably well last season, playing 68 games with the big club as a rookie center in a bottom-six role. But Vancouver's off-season signings of Teddy Blueger and Pius Suter suggest there will be more competition for his spot this fall. 

If nothing else changes, Pearson could be added while Podkolzin, Aman and Hirose are all assigned to Abbotsford for opening day. That would give the Canucks a 21-man roster and about $666,000 in remaining wiggle room under their LTIR maximum.

Vegas Golden Knights

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Just over a year ago, the Vegas Golden Knights announced that Robin Lehner would miss the entirety of the 2022-23 season following hip surgery.

Since then, most of what we've heard about Lehner has been legal and financial — snake farms gone wrong and bankruptcy filings. 

Following their Stanley Cup win, the Golden Knights committed $4.9 million a year for the next two seasons to Adin Hill, who got his team to the promised land. That contract certainly looks like it slots into Lehner's old $5-million cap slot. 

There has not yet been a formal announcement on Lehner from the team, but returning from double hip surgery at age 32 would be tough for any goalie, especially one who's listed at 250 pounds. 

Bottom line: for now, it's not a stretch to expect to see Lehner and his $5-million cap hit back on LTIR this fall. If that's the case, Vegas will be the first Cup winner in a while not to have needed major salary surgery after a championship.

Yes, GM Kelly McCrimmon moved out Reilly Smith to hang onto trade deadline acquisition Ivan Barbashev. But the club that has frequently flown precariously close to the salary-cap sun looks set to return with most of its winning roster intact this fall.

PuckPedia has Vegas with 23 players signed and a cushion of about $800,000 heading into the new season.

Montreal Canadiens

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After last week's trade saw Mike Hoffman shipped out while Casey DeSmith came in and Jeff Petry returned, PuckPedia has the Canadiens over the cap by just under $3 million — not really enough to effectively use the $10.5 million in cap relief provided by Carey Price's contract.

That strongly suggests that GM Kent Hughes has more moves ahead — either to use more of that LTIR cushion or to shave down the overage and be cap compliant going into the season. 

PuckPedia has a 23-player roster to calculate Montreal's $86.3-million cap hit. That includes three goalies — the newly acquired DeSmith, plus Jake Allen at a cap hit of $3.4 million and Sam Montembeault at an even $1 million. One of them could be on the move.

There was also immediate chatter that Petry could be traded again after he was re-acquired last weekend. Since the Pittsburgh Penguins retained 25 percent of his salary, the cap hit for the 35-year-old now drops to just under $4.7 million. Hughes could agree to retain up to 50 percent of that number while getting his team closer to cap compliance.

In addition, Hughes has loads of flexibility thanks to his very young roster. The list of potential opening-night players who are waiver exempt includes forwards Juraj Slafkovsky and Rafael Harvey-Pinard, as well as Jordan Harris, Justin Barron, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj on defense.

Don't be surprised to see the Canadiens under $83.5 million and able to accrue cap space by opening day.