The Edmonton Oilers have executed a smart salary cap move, allowing them to recall forward Ike Howard on Sunday while saving money on his recall under the NHL’s salary cap rules.
As explained by PuckPedia, by calling up both Josh Samanski and Ike Howard to the NHL roster before placing injured forward Mattias Janmark on Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) in March, the Oilers created extra flexibility in their LTIR “performance bonus pool.”
As a result, Howard’s recall today only counts $950,000 against their available cap space. Had they not pre-loaded those players onto the roster when Janmark went on LTIR, the Oilers likely would not have had enough cap room to call Howard up at all.
This calculated timing gives Edmonton additional forward depth at a critical time without needing to make difficult roster cuts.
Understanding How the Oilers Used LTIR
Edmonton needed players thanks to several injuries on the current roster. That said, Howard’s recall on Sunday was more than just the Oilers bringing up a potential replacement player for Monday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Every team operates under a salary cap that it must stay under or face penalties. When a player suffers a long-term injury (minimum 10 games or 24 days), teams can place him on LTIR. However, LTIR creates two separate pools of relief: one for base salaries and another for performance bonuses (extra money players can earn for things like games played, goals, or points — very common in younger contracts). The performance bonus pool is locked in based on which players are on the NHL roster at the exact moment LTIR is activated. By having Samanski and Howard on the roster beforehand, the Oilers maximized their bonus relief space.
This means their bonuses are now covered within the LTIR pool instead of eating into regular cap space. It’s savvy cap management that gives the Oilers more options as they push through the late season or into the playoffs.
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