The Maple Leafs just pulled off two major deals that have their fans smiling. They’ve managed to keep both John Tavares and Matthew Knies while barely increasing their payroll from last season.
Tavares is staying for $4.38M per year, while Knies locked in at $7.75M. Together, they’ll cost Toronto just $213k more than last year – pretty incredible with today’s rising salary cap.
The team’s not done yet. They’ve still got $5.8M to play with this offseason, according to PuckPedia.
They’ve already made some smart moves with that money. Bringing in Mattias Maccelli was their first big grab, and they snagged Nicolas Roy in the Mitch Marner trade to shore up their center position.
On paper, the Leafs have all the positions filled. But in the NHL, there’s always room for upgrades – if you’re willing to move some pieces around.
Here’s where it gets interesting: The league lets teams go 10% over the cap until the season starts. While maxing that out would be tricky (they’d need to get back under the $95.5M ceiling), it gives them some flexibility.
A few current Leafs might find themselves wearing Marlies jerseys next year. Plus, veterans like Calle Jarnkrok ($2.1M) and David Kampf ($2.4M) could be moved after they get their July 1 bonuses.
The Leafs could free up more than $6M without major disruption. The catch? They’d need to fill those spots, and besides Easton Cowan, their AHL talent pool isn’t exactly overflowing with NHL-ready players.
Looking ahead to next summer, things are looking even better. They’ve only got one big free agent to worry about – Anthony Stolarz – and the salary cap’s jumping to $104M.
That means they can go big this year without messing up their future plans. And yes, that includes having room to make a serious run at Connor McDavid when the time comes.
