The NHL and NHLPA are currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, and there has been increased talk about the need to close the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) loophole that has existed since a salary cap entered the equation in 2005.

The mechanism, when used as intended, is to provide salary cap relief to teams that lose a player to injury for longer than 10 games and 24 days and give that club the flexibility to add another player in their place. The reality, though, is that teams have become wise to using the mechanism as a means to bolster their lineup ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where there is no salary cap restriction whatsoever, leaving them to ice lineups that far exceed the limit. Clubs who use it well could argue it’s become crucial to their success (even if they don’t do so publicly), while others raise objections and decry the use as circumvention and not in the spirit of the rule.

The first real example of this came in 2015 when Patrick Kane sustained a collarbone injury just before the NHL trade deadline. The Chicago Blackhawks announced a 12-week timeline for the player’s recovery and placed his $6.3 million cap hit on injured reserve. The club used that space to add center Antoine Vermette, defenseman Kimmo Timonen, and forward Andrew Desjardins to bolster the club’s depth. Kane recovered much faster than initially diagnosed and returned in time for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was a dominant force for the club, recording 11 goals and 12 assists in 23 playoff games en route to winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. And they did it with a payroll that was roughly $5 million over the cap.

In 2021, the Tampa Bay Lightning were facing a steep salary cap crunch. Having just won the Stanley Cup a year prior and facing a flat cap due to COVID, the club was faced with the difficult decision of signing key restricted free agent Anthony Cirelli. The club was able to get out of salary cap hell when they announced on Dec. 23, 2020, that star forward Nikita Kucherov would be unavailable for the 2020-21 regular season due to hip surgery. With Steven Stamkos also having spent time on LTIR, the Lightning acquired contracts of injured players like Marian Gaborik to essentially create the space needed.

When the Carolina Hurricanes fell to Tampa in the playoffs, defenseman Dougie Hamilton said, “We had a great season. We lost to a team that’s $18 million over the cap or whatever they are.” The Lightning weren’t shy about it; Kucherov was seen celebrating with the Stanley Cup during the offseason wearing a shirt that said, “$18 million over the salary cap.”.

This year, Matthew Tkachuk was the latest example. While nobody doubts the player was indeed injury and later admitted to several injuries including a torn adductor, he was in the lineup for Game 1 of the playoffs, after missing the previous two months.

We’ve seen numerous examples of top teams looking to gain any advantage they can with the intent of icing the strongest and best lineup for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

So What Can Be Done About It?

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly is on record stating that a majority of teams would like to see a change. But it's clear there isn't an easy fix. The players’ salaries are paid during the regular season and not the playoffs, so the way it’s written in the CBA makes sense on paper. The NHL is not getting rid of the hard-cap nature of their payroll anytime soon.

Imposing A Salary Cap In The Playoffs Is Not The Answer

While in theory, limiting the salary cap in the playoffs could be a means to curb LTIR manipulation, the unintended consequence is that it would penalize players and teams who follow these rules legitimately. An under-reported aspect of the NHL’s salary cap is that through daily salary cap accrual, teams could theoretically ice a playoff lineup with a payroll even higher over the limit than what Hamilton cited. If teams do this, they aren’t manipulating anything and could then be penalized for an issue that has nothing to do with LTIR.

Ban Trades Involving LTIR Contracts

There have been many deals over the years where the only purpose is to buy cap relief, resulting in sarcastic commentary about the former Arizona Coyotes rostering players like Shea Weber, Chris Pronger, and Dave Bolland. Teams have also found other ways to create space. In 2021, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired injured forward Riley Nash from the Columbus Blue Jackets and subsequently placed him on LTIR, effectively creating cap space out of thin air. The primary source of manipulation is acquiring contracts of injured players, and this would be the first place to start.

A Stronger Game 82-Game 83 Provision

There has been talk about a provision where if a player is ready for the first game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Game 83), then they should be available for Game 82. The idea is that if said player is on LTIR and can’t play in Game 82, they shouldn’t be permitted to play in Game 83. While this is a good idea in theory, many teams would likely accept their best player missing one playoff game as a worthwhile trade-off. Perhaps the penalty should be steeper. If a player misses Game 82, maybe they should miss the first three or four playoff games. Multiple games missed might make teams think twice about using LTIR if a key player isn’t available and they find themselves down 3-0 or 3-1 in a playoff series.

Apply the Provision Only to Pre-Deadline Injuries

The NHL Trade Deadline is the last day for clubs to meaningfully improve their lineup and the last day they can perform significant salary cap manipulation. Because of this, the Game 82-83 provision mentioned above should not apply to players placed on long-term injured reserve after the trade deadline. Of course, all LTIR placements would be retroactive to when the player last played, which would prevent any manipulation where a team places a player on LTIR after the deadline who hasn’t played in weeks or months.

There is no easy fix to this problem in a salary cap world. But there are tweaks that can be made and surely there will be new loopholes created by the suggestions listed here. But now that the new CBA is being discussed, there's no reason why the way LTIR is handled can't evolve.

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