NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly drops hint on potential rule changes for LTIR, salary cap issue during playoffs

In hockey, the long-term injured reserve, or LTIR, is an issue that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly is aware of. It can be used to work around the salary cap for the postseason, as teams can put players on the LTIR and save some money, thus filling their cap with others and building out a stronger, deeper roster.

Hockey insider Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported Tuesday that finding a potential solution or tweak for LTIR and the lack of a salary cap in the playoffs are two key issues present during CBA negotiations. He asked Daly about that, and the deputy commissioner confirmed as much.

LeBrun pressed on, asking whether or not the changes were trending in the right direction. The NHL deputy commissioner said:

"Nothing’s done until it’s done, but I would tell you that I think we’ve made progress toward getting to a good resolution on that issue."

Daly also refused to give any specifics on what that change might look like. All he would reveal is that the NHLPA has looked into it, and a change might be coming.

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Bill Daly reveals how NHL is feeling with decentralized draft

This year, the NHL is going to put on a decentralized draft. Instead of having every team in a building and having general managers make picks from there, each team will be at home and make their picks without being in the same building as one another.

Bill Daly addressed the draft concerns (Imagn)

The change was a big one, and there's an inkling that some teams already regret the switch. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly revealed that things can't change until they experience the new draft and determine if it worked or not.

He said via The Athletic:

"I agree that I’ve heard people from clubs have kind of taken a different position now than their club may have taken when we originally looked at this."

He continued:

"But again, I’m not sure it’s important yet because we haven’t seen what the alternative looks like yet. Look, on an issue like this, we would follow the will of our clubs. And if a large majority of our clubs want to go back (to the traditional draft format), I’m sure we would consider going back. But I think that is premature to speculate at this point."

For now, the draft is going to remain decentralized. That might change in the near future depending on how the 2025 NHL draft goes.