NHL LTIR Rules: What You Need to Know
Contents
- What is the NHL’s Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) Rule?
- How does the LTIR Rule work?
- What are the benefits of the LTIR Rule for teams?
- How does the LTIR Rule affect player contracts?
- What are the LTIR Rule’s implications for the salary cap?
- How does the LTIR Rule impact roster management?
- What other rules are associated with the LTIR Rule?
- How has the LTIR Rule been used in the past?
- What are the potential drawbacks of the LTIR Rule?
- How might the LTIR Rule be changed in the future?
If you’re a hockey fan you’ve probably heard of the NHL’s long-term injury reserve (LTIR) rules. But what do these rules actually mean? In this blog post, we’ll break down everything you need to know about the NHL’s LTIR rules.
What is the NHL’s Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) Rule?
The NHL’s Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) Rule allows teams some salary cap relief when players are injured and unable to play for an extended period of time. In order to qualify for LTIR, a team’s physician must provide a written statement to the league detailing theplayer’s injury, expected length of time he will be unable to play, and why the player is not fit to play.
Once a player is placed on LTIR, his salary is not counted towards the team’s salary cap for as long as he remains on LTIR. However, teams must still pay the player his salary while he is on LTIR. In addition, teams can use LTIR to go over the salary cap by up to the amount of the injured player’s salary.
For example, if a team has a salary cap of $100 million and places a player with a $5 million salary on LTIR, that team can now have a payroll of up to $105 million. Once the player comes off of LTIR, the team must get back under the salary cap before it can activate him or make any other roster moves.
The NHL’s Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) Rule is designed to give teams some relief when players are injured and unable to play for an extended period of time. In order to qualify for LTIR, a team’s physician must provide a written statement to the league detailing theplayer’s injury, expected length of time he will be unable to play, and why the player is not fit to play.
Once a player is placed on LTIR, his salary is not counted towards the team’s salary cap for as long as he remains on LTIR; however, teams must still pay the player his salary while he is on LTIR. In addition, teams can useLTIRto go overthe salariedcapby up tonto themamountof Drexeltheinjuredplayer’SsalaryforasmanydaystheplayerwouldhaveBeenpaidwhileonactiveNHLroster . .
For example: IfPlayerZ goeson 7 dayInjuredReserve(“7 day IR”),PlayerZ’Steamwillhave$100 + $5 =$105miltotheirdisposableincomeforthenext7daysandwillbepayingPlayerZhis$5mil/yearlysalaryduringthose7dayswhilehisteamisfreeof anycapconsequencesforthat$5mil .
How does the LTIR Rule work?
In order to be eligible to place a player on LTIR, a team must prove to the NHL that the player has a bona fide long-term injury or illness that is expected to keep him out of the lineup for at least 10 games and 24 days.
Once a player is placed on LTIR, his salary does not count against the salary cap until he is ready to return to action. In order for this to happen, the team must first recall a player from the AHL or another junior team, and then place the LTIR’d player on regular waivers.
If no other team claims him, he can be sent down to the minors or demoted to a junior team without having to clear waivers again.
What are the benefits of the LTIR Rule for teams?
The NHL’s long-term injury reserve rule (LTIR) provides short-term relief for teams dealing with significant injury issues. It allows a team to exceed the salary cap by the amount of salary paid to injured players who are placed on the LTIR. In order to be eligible for this relief, a team must have more than $5.5 million in available cap space and the player(s) in question must be expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days.
There are several benefits that come along with being able to exceed the salary cap First, it gives teams a bit of extra breathing room when it comes to finances. This can be extremely important when a team is dealing with multiple injuries at once and needs to add depth in order to stay competitive. Second, it allows teams to keep their core players together and prevents them from having to make difficult roster decisions due to salary cap constraints.
The LTIR rule can be extremely helpful for teams that are dealing with injuries, but it’s important to remember that it is only a short-term solution. Once a player is healthy and ready to return to the lineup, the team will need to free up enough cap space to accommodate their salary once again.
How does the LTIR Rule affect player contracts?
The NHL Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) Rule allows teams some relief from the salary cap when a player is injured and unable to play for an extended period of time. In order to be eligible for LTIR, a player must be evaluated by team doctors and determined to be out of commission for at least 10 games and 24 days.
Once a player is placed on LTIR, their salary is removed from the team’s cap hit. This gives the team some much-needed flexibility, particularly if they are up against the salary cap. The team can then use that money to sign or trade for another player.
However, there are some stipulations. First, the team must prove that they are indeed up against the salary cap before they can place a player on LTIR. Second, once a player is placed on LTIR, their salary still counts towards the team’s total payroll. So if a team is close to the luxury tax threshold, placing a player on LTIR could push them over the edge.
Finally, it’s important to note that a player can only be placed on LTIR retroactively. So if a player is injured during the season, the team cannot place them on LTIR until after they have missed the required 10 games and 24 days.
The NHL LTIR Rule provides teams with some much-needed flexibility when it comes to managing their rosters and salaries. However, it’s important to understand all of the stipulations before taking advantage of it.
What are the LTIR Rule’s implications for the salary cap?
The Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) Rule allows a team to exceed the salary cap by the amount of salary cap space that is equal to the salaries of the injured players placed on LTIR. This rule is designed to help teams deal with the financial implications of having players out with long-term injuries.
In order to place a player on LTIR, the team must submit documentation to the league that outlines the player’s injury and prognosis. The league will then determine whether or not the player is eligible to be placed on LTIR. If the league approves the placement, the team will be given a corresponding salary cap exemption.
The LTIR Rule can have a significant impact on a team’s salary cap situation, as it allows them to exceed the salary cap by the amount of their injured players’ salaries. This can be beneficial for teams who have players out with long-term injuries, as it gives them some flexibility in terms of how they can spend their salary cap space.
How does the LTIR Rule impact roster management?
In order to be eligible to go on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR), a player must be injured and incapable of playing for a minimum of 24 days and 10 regular season games. Teams are then allowed to exceed the salary cap by the amount of the injured player’s salary, up to the maximum salary allowed on LTIR, which is set at $10.85 million for the 2019-20 season
Players on LTIR do not count towards the 23-man active roster limit, but they are still counted towards the 50-contract limit. As such, teams will often place players on LTIR who they know will not be able to return until after the trade deadline in order to free up a spot on their 50-man roster.
The LTIR rule can be used in one of two ways:
1) To replace an injured player with a healthy one: If a team has a player on its active roster who becomes injured and is expected to miss at least the next 10 games and 24 days, it can place that player on LTIR and recall a healthy player from its AHL affiliate. The team can then exceed the salary cap by the amount of the injured player’s salary, up to $10.85 million.
2) To create salary cap space: If a team has multiple players who are injured and expected to miss significant time, it can place them all on LTIR and exceed the salary cap by their combined salaries, up to $10.85 million. The team can then use this additional salary cap space to acquire players via trade or Free agency
What other rules are associated with the LTIR Rule?
The NHL’s Long-Term Injury Reserve Rule (“LTIR”) provides relief to a team that is inadvertently over the salary cap due to long-term injuries to Key Players By placing a player on LTIR, the team can exceed the salary cap by the amount of the player’s salary, but only for as long as the player is sidelined with his injury.
In order for a team to receive relief under the LTIR rule, it must prove to the NHL that the injured player is expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days, and that he will not be healthy enough to return within that time frame.
The team must also submit documentation from an independent medical expert supporting its claim that the player is indeed seriously injured and will be sidelined for an extended period of time.
Once a team has been granted relief under the LTIR rule, it can exceed the salary cap by up to the amount of the injured player’s salary. However, the team must still stay within what is known as the “upper limit,” which is calculated each season based on league-wide revenues.
The LTIR rule can be used in conjunction with other salary cap circumventing mechanisms such as “the buried clause” and “the stretch provision ”
How has the LTIR Rule been used in the past?
In order to be placed on LTIR, a team’s medical staff must provide documentation that the player is suffering from an injury that will keep him sidelined for at least 10 games and 24 days. Once a player is placed on LTIR, he is ineligible to play for the duration of his time on the list.
The team can exceed the salary cap by the amount of the injured player’s salary, but only for as long as he remains on LTIR. In other words, if a team has $5 million in salary cap space and places a player with a $2 million annual salary on LTIR, the team can add another player (or players) worth up to $7 million.
However, once the injured player is healthy and activated off of LTIR, the team must shed salary to get back under the salary cap. The most common way of doing this is by placing the now-healthy player back on waivers. If he clears waivers, he can be sent down to the minor leagues without having to go through the formalities of re-entry waivers.
The long-term injured reserve rule has been used by a number of teams over the years to get around the salary cap. In some cases, it has been used as a way to allow teams to temporarily exceed the salary cap in order to ice a competitive team while waiting for players with long-term injuries to recover and return to action. In other cases, it has been used as a way to free up salary cap space by placing high-priced players with injuries on LTIR and then sending them down to the minors once they recover.
What are the potential drawbacks of the LTIR Rule?
The LTIR Rule can have some potential drawbacks for teams. One is that it can create a sort of “competitive imbalance” between teams. For example, let’s say that Team A has several players who are injured and are eligible to go on LTIR. This means that Team A will have more salary cap space available to them than other teams. This can give team A a bit of a competitive advantage over other teams.
Another potential drawback is that the LTIR Rule can encourage “cap circumvention.” This is when teams try to get around the salary cap by signing players to long-term contracts and then putting them on LTIR. This can create an uneven playing field between teams, and it’s something that the NHL is always trying to crack down on.
How might the LTIR Rule be changed in the future?
As the NHL looks to reduce the salary cap, one potential change could be to the Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) rule.
Under the current rule, teams can exceed the salary cap by up to 10 percent if they have players on LTIR. The catch is that those players must miss at least 10 games and 24 days, and they must be expected to miss a significant portion of the season.
If the NHL were to reduce the amount that teams can exceed the salary cap, it would put more pressure on teams with injured players. The most likely scenario is that the NHL would decrease the amount to 5 or 7 percent, which would still give teams some flexibility if they have long-term injuries.
Of course, any change to the LTIR rule would need to be negotiated with the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA). It’s possible that the NHLPA would not agree to a reduction in the amount that teams can exceed the salary cap, so it’s not clear if this is a change that will happen in the near future.