A player who misses 40+ consecutive games in the NHL is subsequently automatically declared unfit to play in VHA.
At this point, he is automatically moved to Long Term Injury Reserve (LTIR) in VHA and 2 things occur:
1) the player is no longer eligible to play in VHA
2) His salary is taken off the salary cap
A player on LTIR can return to VHA when he plays an NHL game following his long term injury.
At which point, the VHA team is required to re-integrate the player in the lineup cap permitting.
Upon request, the league can give the team 4 weeks to clear cap space.
You can't keep a player on LTIR all season for a miraculous playoffs recovery a la Tampa Bay & Kucherov shenanigans.
Originally, this process started on day 1 of the regular season.
This season though, and from now on in subsequent seasons, players will be moved to LTIR during the offseason - but only after UFA Frenzy.
A list of VHA players on LTIR is currently showing in the SS in the "LTIR" tab in red.
There is also a list of players tracking towards LTIR but haven't met the requirement yet.
Those are indicated in yellow in the SS LTIR tab.
If you need more info, feel free to ask here or on Discord