David Alter: Salary Cap Management Key to Maple Leafs Success
After another post-season disappointment, Toronto fans are already looking ahead to the new season. David Alter discusses their best way to success next season.
The 2024-25 NHL regular season presents a wonderful opportunity for the Toronto Maple Leafs. No, it’s not because it’s a new year, the club has heard that one before. But for the first time in a few years, the club will not go into the season with any presumed long-term injuries.
Remember, the club went into last season with defenseman Jake Muzzin and goaltender Matt Murray in long-term injured reserve. That put the Maple Leafs just under $10 million into long-term injured reserve.
So you may wonder why that matters. Can’t the Maple Leafs use that money for other players? They can and they did. But the salary cap allows you to use it to the fullest advantage when you don’t have to go into long-term injured reserve.
I’ll give you an example:
Say the Maple Leafs stayed $1 million under the salary cap up until the trade deadline. Because they stayed out of long-term injured reserve and were able to accrue space, they’d actually have room to add a $5 million player at the deadline. If they saved $2 million, that would give them the space to add $10 million in average annual value.
If the Leafs go into this summer going deep into the long-term injured reserve pool, then they could really load up at the deadline.
The key to this is making sure they have 23 players on their active roster that do not earn more than the 2024-25 salary cap of $88 million set for this season.
The Leafs took care of some business getting Max Domi signed to a four-year, $15 million extension. The $3.75 million cap number is definitely a discount for one of the club’s most versatile forwards.
Clearly, Domi wanted to return and in some ways he got a discount. The Leafs are one of the few teams in the NHL willing to dole out signing bonuses to mid-range players. In Domi’s case, he’ll earn $9 million of his total compensation with a lump sum payout beginning this summer with $3.5 million up front.
The Leafs also signed defenseman Timothy Liljegren to a two-year, $6 million extension. This deal came as a bit of a surprise as it represents more than double what the defenseman was previously making. The player struggled to stay healthy and wasn’t as effective in the playoffs as the team was hoping for this year. But they are still betting on a bounce back for the player who had three goals and 20 assists in 55 games.
In addition to adding some veteran defensemen, the club will have to make room for restricted free agents like Nick Robertson and Connor Dewar.
It’s clear the Leafs will make mistakes. Nobody bats 1.000 in free agency. But as long as they give themselves room to get around those issues, they stand a chance.
They’ll get better on defense. Guys like Chris Tanev can help. But what will they do in goal? While Joseph Woll may be one part of the answer, he is injury prone. The free agent market leaves a lot to be desired. Can the Leafs make a trade? Can they do it without getting worse. Maple Leafs Brad Treliving seemed to indicate he doesn’t want to add by subtracting elsewhere.
What does it mean for Mitch Marner? Despite a lot of talk about his future. New head coach Craig Berube said he’s looking forward to coaching him. Does that mean he isn’t going anywhere?
Time will tell.
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