The Edmonton Oilers have caught a break with the recent clarification of the NHL's Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) rules just ahead of the opening night of the 2025-2026 season. This clarification provides the Oilers, and other NHL teams, with increased flexibility in managing their rosters and salary cap situations as they prepare for the start of the regular season.
The key point of clarification revolves around the league's new "no paper loans" rule, which stipulates that a player must play at least one AHL game before being recalled to the NHL roster. However, the NHL has announced that this rule will not be enforced until October 10, 2025. This temporary reprieve allows teams to submit their opening night rosters with greater flexibility.
For the Oilers, this means they can strategically utilize their waiver-exempt players. Players like David Tomasek, Ike Howard, and Matt Savoie can be temporarily sent down to the AHL. This allows the Oilers to submit an opening night roster that is compliant with the salary cap. Subsequently, the Oilers can place a player such as Zach Hyman on LTIR and recall the aforementioned players from the AHL. This strategy allows the team to maximize their LTIR pool without the risk of losing valuable players on waivers and without exceeding the 23-player active roster limit.
To qualify for LTIR, a player must be expected to miss at least 10 NHL games and 24 days of the regular season. When a player is placed on LTIR, it allows the team to exceed the salary cap by the amount of the injured player's cap hit. However, it's important to note that the cap hit of the player on LTIR is not removed from the team's overall cap. Instead, LTIR creates a pool of money that the team can use to exceed the cap.
Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), there are now two types of LTIR: standard LTIR and Season Ending LTIR (SELTIR). Standard LTIR is for players who are expected to return at some point during the season. In this case, the maximum amount that a team can exceed the cap is limited to the league average salary from the previous year, which is $3,817,293 for the 2025-26 season. SELTIR, on the other hand, is for players who are out for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. If a team uses SELTIR, they can exceed the cap by the full cap hit of the injured player. However, the player is then ineligible to return at any point during the regular season or playoffs.
The Oilers recently faced scrutiny regarding their use of LTIR with Evander Kane last season. Kane missed the entire regular season due to injuries but returned for the playoffs. This led to an NHL investigation into whether the Oilers had circumvented the salary cap rules. However, the NHL has cleared the Oilers of any wrongdoing, confirming that they did not violate any salary cap rules.
Looking ahead, the Oilers will need to make strategic decisions about how to utilize LTIR throughout the season. With the implementation of a post-season salary cap, teams can no longer simply add players without cap considerations under the assumption that their cap hits won't count in the playoffs. The Oilers, like other teams, will need to carefully manage their cap situation to ensure they can ice a competitive roster throughout the regular season and into the playoffs.
