Toronto Maple Leafs: Situation Update After Andersen
By Tim Chiasson
After acquiring and signing Frederik Andersen, the Toronto Maple Leafs have one less question hanging over their heads – but what does that mean for the current off-season outlook?
The Toronto Maple Leafs commitment to Andersen, at the current stage, is a gamble – but one with high potential. It shores up the goaltending question for the next five years and leaves people wondering about one less thing on the Leafs roster.
What’s the fall-out from the trade/signing on other hot topics around the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Salary Cap Situation
With Andersen signed, and the cap reportedly heading to around $72.8M, the Toronto Maple Leafs are left with around $3.5M in space heading to July 1st.
The Jared Cowen buyout is going to bump that total to around $7.25M when it’s official.
In order to maximize the value of Nathan Horton’s LTIR placement, the Toronto Maple Leafs need to be as close to the cap ceiling as possible, so designating him to LTIR before being within dollars of the ceiling is pointless.
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On July 1st, barring any more trades, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have just over $7M in cap space.
Steven Stamkos
The reality of the Andersen trade is that the Toronto Maple Leafs intend on competing sooner than they let on. If Andersen pans out, which is the hope, then the Leafs aren’t going to be a bottom five team next year – and they might struggle to be bottom 10.
This moves the Stamkos signing into the ‘warm’ area.
The Toronto Maple Leafs could sign Stamkos, place Horton on LTIR and watch the jersey sales pile up. It’s a real possibility, but it’s not a guarantee.
A Top Four D Acquisition
Without moving a contract or two (like Bozak and Hunwick) the Toronto Maple Leafs can’t have Stamkos and a top four defender this offseason. It just won’t work financially.
It has to be one or the other.
Keep in mind that the John Tavares watch will be on when the clock strikes July 1st, and every day he doesn’t renew with New York is another day of rumors to the Toronto Maple Leafs if they don’t sign Stamkos.
Jonathan Bernier
The Andersen trade marks the end of the Jonathan Bernier era in Toronto.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will no doubt try and move Bernier, but the likely outcome is he finishes the season as a Toronto Maple Leafs player and tries to reignite his career elsewhere in the 2017 offseason.
There isn’t much ofa market for Bernier, especially with goaltenders like Fleury, Howard and Crawford potentially available, along with Reimer as a UFA this year.
UFA Signings
The Toronto Maple Leafs are reportedly still interested in keeping P.A. Parenteau. That’s going to dent the salary cap by around $2.5M – if they’re really lucky.
The best case scenario for a Parenteau – or Stempniak – signing, if they go after Stamkos or a top four D, is that the Leafs move Bozak sign/trade for those players and max out the cap ceiling to give them max value with Horton’s LTIR placement.
That provides a little breathing room moving forward.
Next: The Andersen Trade And Signing
Taking A Bad Contract For Assets
This is out the window now. The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have the space to take on a bad contract for a year.
Any hopes of swindling a team for a good prospect in exchange for their salary incompetance is over with the Andersen signing.
All in all, the Andersen situation has a big impact on the Toronto Maple Leafs and what they want to do in the 2016 off-season, and it moves them closer to competing than the original plan – and there’s nothing wrong with that.