How Can the Maple Leafs Become Salary-Cap Compliant?

Every year it seems the same. Once again, the Toronto Maple Leafs are facing a challenge as they work to become salary-cap compliant for the upcoming season. Things eased a bit when Matt Murray and Jake Muzzin’s contracts were put into salary-cap limbo because both players were placed on the long-term injured reserve (LTIR).

Still, the work seems not to be completed. General Manager (GM) Brad Treliving acknowledges that additions and changes are needed on the team’s blue line.

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Where the Maple Leafs Sit in Regard to the Salary Cap’s Upper Limits: The Possible Options

The Maple Leafs roster sits just less than $1.3 million over the upper limits of the salary cap. The question is how the team will find a way to shed that salary without losing anything that makes the team’s roster competitive. In the rest of this post, I’ll share ways that the team can get under the salary cap.

Option One: Yo-Yo Waiver-Exempt Players

One option available to the Maple Leafs is to send down (and then bring up as needed) any players who are waiver-exempt. Those players include Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg, among others. By using this option, the team can potentially free up a combined amount of approximately $1.6 million.

Option Two: Make Matthew Knies Part of the Roster from the Start

Matthew Knies is also a waiver-exempt player. He could be moved to the AHL for the season. However, when he came to the Maple Leafs’ roster last season, he didn’t look out of place at all. If he continues to look good during the team’s training camp, he’ll likely be seen as ready for prime time.

If the coaching staff believes he can make a continuing contribution to the roster, they’ll keep him around. That would allow the team to move a more expensive player out. However, that’s only if Knies proves that he’s ready for the NHL.

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Option Three: Utilizing Dylan Gambrell (Or Trying to Move Him Down to the Marlies)

Dylan Gambrell is an interesting player. He’s being paid the NHL league minimum salary of $775,000 and he’d have to be waived to move down to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Perhaps if the team believes they’ll lose him on waivers, they might decide to explore trade options.

Moving Gambrell down would provide some needed salary-cap space. However, if the team believes they’d lose him for nothing they might move him for a prospect if he doesn’t make the team.

Option Four: Trading Away a Higher Salaried Player

GM Treliving does have the option to trade players as a way to offload salary. This would involve trading players with higher contracts for players with more affordable contracts. But who would the team move? It’s easier said than done.

However, trading players brings challenges. Who’s to say a trade partner might even emerge? As well, the team would like to ensure the overall roster balance would remain intact. Tough choices need to be made.

The Bottom Line

As the Maple Leafs work to become salary-cap compliant, the puzzle is complex and needs careful consideration. The biggest question might be whether several of the current players on the Marlies might be ready to carry the mail for the Maple Leafs roster.

If the team could make up the depth positions with prospects and they could hold their own, the team would be in better shape. In addition, moving to younger players helps meet the team’s long-term goals.

It’s a bit of a delicate balancing act. How can the team maximize its potential while meeting the NHL’s salary-cap regulations?

It might not be easy, but one way or another it must be done!

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