How The Maple Leafs Were Able To Fit New Players Scott Laughton And Brandon Carlo Under The NHL Salary Cap
May 21, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CANADA; Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving speaks during a media conference to introduce new head coach Craig Berube (not shown) at Ford Performance Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn ImagesDENVER — The Toronto Maple Leafs navigated a complex salary cap puzzle at the NHL trade deadline, making a series of strategic moves to bolster their roster. Although divisional rivals like the Florida Panthers were blessed with cap space due to the injury to star forward Matthew Tkachuk, the Leafs were left with no choice but to get help in other ways.
The Leafs took on $1.5 million salary cap charge when they acquired veteran forward Scott Laughton in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers. They also negotiated with the Boston Bruins to retain 15 percent of Brandon Carlo's $4.1 million cap hit, reducing it to $3.485 million on their books.
Toronto still had to clear space to make room for the new additions. On Friday, the Leafs were able to clear $1.15 million in space by assigning forward Ryan Reaves to the Toronto Marlies after the enforcer cleared waivers. They also shipped forward Connor Dewar ($1.8 million) and Conor Timmins ($1.1 million) to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Toronto also moved Max Pacioretty from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve (a savings of $873,770).
They also sent Dakota Mermis back down to the Marlies earlier in the week ($775 in cap savings) to maintain a 21-player active roster.
According to Puckpedia.com, all of that strategic cap management put the Leafs at $195,332 of salary cap space. Chris Tanev remains injured, but because he is only on injured reserve, his eventual activation will not affect the cap as Toronto will carry 22 players on the active roster.
Of course, if Toronto wants to activate either of their other two players on long-term injured reserve (Pacioretty or Jani Hakanpaa), they would have to create additional cap space. However, that doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon. The Leafs have successfully positioned themselves with minimal cap space, allowing for a 22-man roster and the option to activate Tanev when healthy.
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