The club is currently less than $1.5 million over the $82.5 million salary cap. Despite trade rumors, here’s why that doesn’t matter right now.
It’s been well documented that the Toronto Maple Leafs did not have a lot of salary cap space going to tinker with their roster this off-season. Of the little they had, a large chunk went into committing to two new goaltenders, while adding some other depth pieces at forward and defense.
As things stand right now, the club is just under $1.5 million over the NHL’s salary cap of $82.5 million for the 2022-23 season with 22 players committed to their roster, according to Puckpedia.com.
Already at the regular-season salary cap limit, the Maple Leafs still have figure out how 22-year-old defenseman Rasmus Sandin fits in. Currently a restricted free agent, the Swede is coming off his entry-level contract and did not have the option to file for arbitration, which would have could have sped up the process. Sandin could sign an offer sheet with another club, but no other franchise has stepped up. In fact, that would have at least crystalized the situation for Toronto.
"If there's going to be an offer sheet, the sooner the better, so we can make the decision and move on,” Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said earlier this month.
If and when Sandin and Dubas come to terms on a new deal, that amount is likely to stretch the Leafs further above the cap threshold. That’s led to a lot of speculation about the club having to trade someone like forward Alex Kerfoot ($3.5 million cap hit) or Justin Holl ($2 million cap hit) once the Sandin situation gets settled.
But here’s why that isn’t necessarily the case.
Off-season salary cap
During the off-season, NHL clubs are permitted to be over the typical salary cap by 10 percent. The Maple Leafs are far away from the that limit and the threshold is allowed until Day 1 of the regular season on Oct. 10.
Why wait that long?
Ideally the Maple Leafs would like to have the maximum space and everything settled ahead of time, but given their constraints in a flat-cap world, it’s not that simple. A trade might materialize that could alleviate some space before October, and that would be great for them. But there isn’t a need to force the issue, especially since there is over 2.5 months of time on their side.
Maple Leafs can elect to carry 20 players
While carrying a maximum 23 players on the active roster is an ideal scenario for most NHL teams, they aren’t obligated by any means. The day before finalizing their roster, they can simply place some of their depth players on waivers. Subtracting three players from their roster and having the flexibility to move them up and down within the Toronto Marlies would clear a minimum of $1.5 million in space ($750,000 x 2) or as much as $2.25 million ($1,125,000 x 2) as the maximum amount that can be buried.
Of course, if a player is claimed off waivers that makes more than $1.125 million, that would clear more space than the scenarios listed above, but it’s far less likely.
Injuries and why waiting makes sense
With eight pre-season games and a three-week training camp, injuries can occur that can help fix some short-term roster problems. The Maple Leafs had this happen with one of their players last season.
On Oct. 9, Ilya Mikheyev broke his hand in a pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators. With just a few days before the regular season began, the club placed Mikheyev on the long-term injured reserve, freeing up his $1.645 million in salary cap space for a couple of months. That allowed the Maple Leafs to remain cap compliant and carry more players on their roster than other scenarios that played out later in the season.
The Maple Leafs have eight pre-season games this fall compared to six from last season. Anything can happen whether it be in games, practices, etc that might resolve itself before the club has to be cap compliant.
Time is definitely on the Maple Leafs’ side in the situation they find themselves in. A trade is certainly possible between now and October, but they don’t need to force the situation. The worst thing they could do right now is trade away an asset for next to nothing like the Columbus Blue Jackets were forced to do when they traded forward Oliver Bjorkstrand and his $5.4 million cap hit to the Seattle Kraken for third and fourth-round draft picks.
In the meantime, the Leafs can stay patient and see how things plays out.
Further Reading