The Toronto Maple Leafs have adopted an interesting strategy during the offseason, and David Alter has dug into this new approach.
With Mitch Marner departing the club for the Vegas Golden Knights, the club was left with few options for acquiring a top-six forward via free agency. It’s therefore not surprising that in late January, the Leafs don’t have a direct replacement. So far, the Leafs have taken a different interim approach: to load up on as much forward depth as possible, a strategy they haven’t really been able to employ before.
First, the Leafs got Nicolas Roy in a sign-and-trade in the Vegas deal for Marner. Then they acquired forward Matias Maccelli from the Utah Mammoth and most recently they acquired forward Dakota Joshua from the Vancouver Canucks. What all three forwards have in common is that they carry a salary cap hit in the $3 million range (Maccelli carries a $3,425,000 million cap hit via PuckPedia.com). This matters because for the first time, the Leafs have cap space to construct their roster differently. The Leafs have seven players on their roster with cap hits in the $3 million range.
In addition to the three players mentioned above, they also have Max Domi ($3.75 million), Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($3.5 million), Brandon Carlo ($3.485 million), and Joseph Woll ($3,666,667), totaling seven players. The previous high for Toronto in the salary cap era of players making between $3-4 million was three. That is a substantial increase that would not have been possible had Marner re-signed in Toronto.
Prior to Marner’s departure, the Leafs were right up against the salary cap, with a core four of players—No. 34, John Tavares, Marner, and William Nylander—occupying so much of the salary cap. Were they a victim of the flat cap? Certainly. Did the Leafs do a decent job of trying to find value in lower cap-hit contracts? For sure. But now they have several bets in play on mid-six players that could help fill the void and it might work. Even if it doesn’t, they are flush with cap space at the moment.
According to Puckpedia.com, they have approximately $2.93 million in cap space on an active roster of 23 players. However, the Leafs do not necessarily have to carry 23 players; they can carry 20. And there are also reports of Toronto trying to move other forwards like David Kampf ($2.4 million) and Calle Jarnkrok ($2.1 million), which could create additional space to acquire another forward. The Leafs don’t have to be fully cap compliant or put forth an optimal roster until the day before the regular season starts. At that point, perhaps the Leafs will see another team with a cap problem and try to pluck a top-six forward from a team that is flush with them.
There were not many options via free agency, and the worst thing Toronto could have done was to overpay for someone to fill the void and shoehorn them in. Acquiring players on locked-in contracts that were signed in a flat-cap world helps Toronto get some value while they defer the ultimate decision. It remains to be seen whether it will work, as Marner delivered so much for the Maple Leafs at even strength, on the power play, and on the penalty kill during the regular season. One could argue that Toronto is worse this season. Some suggest it may be a battle with up-and-coming teams just to make the postseason. But if they do get into the postseason, this strategy may position them better for success. Ultimately, this strategic shift in cap allocation may be the key to unlocking sustained postseason success for the Maple Leafs.