Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens Looking To End Use Of LTIR, Prepare For 2025

The Montreal Canadiens have been reliant on Long-Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) to field their roster for the last four seasons, but that may soon change.
Despite NHL betting odds pegging them as a bottom-five team for the last three seasons, the Canadiens have had one of the highest payrolls in the NHL.
One of those reasons is the contract of Carey Price, which takes up $10.5M (approximately 12% of the current $88M salary cap), and who has been unofficially retired since the end of the 2021-2022 season.
Having nearly 12% of your cap space attributed to a non-available player is sure to force most clubs in the NHL into using LTIR, and it has thus been a big challenge for the organization for the last few years.
It looked like the Canadiens were finally going to play with some wiggle room this season, but general manager Kent Hughes decided to trade for Patrik Laine in August; taking on the entirety of his $8.7M contract and forcing the need for LTIR once again.
The Canadiens could theoretically remove the need for LTIR by sending down a player; reducing their roster size from 22 players to 21 players; but that would leave them exposed in case of injury, as they’d need to use LTIR again just to call up a replacement.
This could impact their trade plans after the NHL Trade Freeze coming up in a few days.
Montreal Canadiens Trade Targets
With the 4-Nations tournament effectively pausing the season in a little under two months, sources believe teams will likely emulate the last two trade seasons and get their shopping done earlier than usual.
That could be beneficial for the Canadiens, who have four pending free agents and other assets available for trade.
Out of their veteran groups, pending free agents like David Savard, Jake Evans and Joel Armia could be of value on the market; and trading any one of them would put the Canadiens back under the NHL’s salary cap; thus allowing them to accrue cap space before the end of the season.
With the club also looking to bolster their defensive depth by acquiring a top-4 right-shot defenceman; it’s imperative they not only maximize the asset return on their players, but move on from them as soon as possible; like they did with Sean Monahan last summer, top avoid injury.
Savard and Armia have the higher cap hits out of the group of desirable free agent, $3.5M and 3.4M respectively. Moving either of them, even at 50% would likely allow the club to get under the cap.
One should also keep an eye on Jake Evans ($1.7M), as he could easily be sacrificed for a higher pick or promising prospect if the club believes one of Owen Beck or Oliver Kapanen is ready for full-time NHL duty.
By getting under the cap now, the Canadiens would not only ensure their mediocrity this season, but also ensure that they are set up nicely for next summer.
Performance Bonuses Pushing The Issue
Did you know the Montreal Canadiens would be under the salary cap right now if they hadn’t used LTIR last season (albeit with 22 players on the roster)? Yep, that’s right. It’s just a vicious cycle.
When a team uses LTIR, they receive a salary relief pool, but the total performance bonuses for players on the roster as of Day 1 also factor into the salary cap calculation.
At the start of the season, teams create a performance bonus pool based on the players listed on their opening roster. For example, last season, the Canadiens’ pool exceeded $5.2M due to bonuses tied to players like Juraj Slafkovsky ($3.5M), Kaiden Guhle ($420K), Jordan Harris ($507K), and Cole Caufield ($850K).
For the 2024-25 season, the Canadiens must account for bonuses from Slafkovsky, Guhle, Jayden Struble ($57K), and Hutson ($750K), totaling around $4.73M. This setup leaves them with limited cap flexibility, especially when recalling players from the AHL or other leagues.
Seeing how this season is going, the Canadiens could realistically be looking at a $1M to $2M performance bonus overage, thanks in large part to the play of Guhle and Hutson.
That could be a problem for next summer; something the organization has targeted as an important time for the Canadiens for over two seasons.
Montreal Canadiens 2025 Outlook
After three years of rebuilding, the Montreal Canadiens are in the same place they’ve been since starting the rebuild: in the bottom of the NHL standings.
But things aren’t as bleak for the Montreal Canadiens as many believe. The club has an exciting set of pieces in Hutson, Caufield and Suzuki. Meanwhile, Ivan Demidov should be crossing the Atlantic next season and Michael Hage will likely develop in the NCAA for one more year before making the jump.
The Canadiens could also be picking in the top-16 twice for the 2025 NHL Draft; giving them some serious assets to work with, be it by way of trade or selecting promising youngsters to add to the emerging core.
But, with the way the Canadiens have disappointed this season, they’re going to want to use every dollar coming off the books next season to bolster their lineup and get back in the playoff picture.
So eliminating the risk of an overage for the next season has reportedly become one of the priorities and the reason the Canadiens will value moving sooner than later on some of their pending free agents; as maximizing their money this summer will be essential to vaulting them into playoff contention next season.
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