With a reported interest from both players to return to the Maple Leafs, a clause in the collective bargaining agreement could make it a no-brainer.
With a reported interest from both players to return to the Maple Leafs, a clause in the collective bargaining agreement could make it a no-brainer.
It's been a bit a nightmare of a tenure for Matt Murray and John Klingberg in their time with the Maple Leafs.
Brought in at different times in their tenure to fulfil different goals, both saw their current contracts end on long-term injured reserve due to respective hip injuries.
According to the Toronto Star's Kevin McGran, both players are interested in possibly returning to Toronto. And while that might seem ridiculous to some, there is a mechanism in play that would make it make sense for the Maple Leafs with little cost and big reward.
Article 50.2 of the NHL's collective bargaining agreement allows for performance bonus-based contracts for certain players based on experience and recent injury status.
Injured Veteran Performance Bonuses
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This type of standard player contract was most recently in play when the Edmonton Oilers signed former Maple Leafs forward Connor Brown to a one-year, NHL minimum $775,000 with a $3.225 million performance bonus attached if the player played in 10 games (which he did). If an NHL team can't fit the performance bonus into their cap for this season, it allows them to carry it over to the following season.
Brown suffered a knee injury during his time with the Washington Capitals and perhaps in hindsight, the performance threshold wasn't strong enough as he didn't really pan out in the way the Oilers had hoped (although he's still playing playoff games as of this writing, so take that for what it is).
Murray, acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators in the summer of 2022, was limited to 26 games during the 2022-23 season and ended up spending the entire 2023-24 season on LTI with hip resurfacing surgery. He returned to the team late in the season and had a conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies to end the year.
Klingberg underwent hip surgery in New York and was given a five-to-six-month timeline for the injury. He was seen skating at the Leafs' practice facility this month making the most of his time with the Leafs staff before his contract expires on July 1.
Both players satisfy all the requirements to sign a performance bonus contract. Even though Murray has only played in 272 games, the "400-plus games players for pension purposes is to account for goaltenders who don't play in as many games as skaters. Both spent more than 100 days on LTI last season and were in the final year of their existing SPCs.
Now it's just a matter of if they could find a performance bonus that made sense.
Murray's cap hit with the Leafs was $4.685 million (Senators retained 25 percent of his $6.25 million cap hit. If he becomes Toronto's third goalie option, does it make sense to give him a minimum $775,000 salary and then some kind of games-played bonus where if he elevates himself further you can give him more money?
Maybe it's the same with Klingberg. Signed to a one-year, $4.15 million contract last season, if he truly has found a way to become a top-four defenseman again, can you sign him to a minimum deal with an additional performance-related bonus based on games played or his points production, given his offensive strengths?
It could be structured in a way where the Leafs will only pay what they get out of the players and that can be truly beneficial. Otherwise, it's a pair of NHL minimum contracts that can easily be pushed to the side if neither pans out.
The one caveat is both are unrestricted free agents on July 1 and can shop these kinds of deals with other clubs. But if the Leafs can make it make sense with minimal risk if it goes south, it might just be the best value for Toronto in quite some time.
Although the salary cap is going up this season, the Leafs will still want to find value where they can get it. And if there is an overage for the Leafs in 2025-26, the salaries that could come off the books (John Tavares' $11 million for example) can more than accommodate for it, especially if those players yielded a smart return.
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