Editor In Leaf
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Toronto Maple Leafs: Defense Might be too Expensive

By Ryan Ferguson

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 21: Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs poses after winning the Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year) during the 2017 NHL Awards and Expansion Draft at T-Mobile Arena on June 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 21: Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs poses after winning the Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year) during the 2017 NHL Awards and Expansion Draft at T-Mobile Arena on June 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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This past season was a lot of fun for Toronto Maple Leaf fans as the team performed significantly better than most people anticipated.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had two disastrous seasons where the team only managed 68 and 69 points. The Leafs then surprised a lot of people and managed to make the playoffs on the back of a 95 point year. Amazingly, the team did so while regularly employing between six and nine rookies on a nightly basis. They had three rookies hit the 60 point mark, led by Auston Matthews who scored 40 goals on route to the Calder trophy as the NHL rookie of the year.

Everything is peachy in Leaf Land.

However, the season has ended and the Stanley Cup playoffs are in the rear-view mirror. Most fans have turned their attention back to the team and what they need to do to improve moving forward. Yes we need a backup goalie, a fourth line centre and likely some depth for the third pairing of our blue line, but the most talked about area of need has undoubtedly been for a legit top pairing defensemen.

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Toronto Maple Leafs Defense

This past week the team lost out on the Travois Hamonic sweepstakes. The Islanders moved their big right shot defender to the Calgary Flames for a boatload of high draft picks (in true Burke fashion). There have also been rumours that the Leafs have shown interest in trading for Colin Miller, Chris Tanev, Jason Demers and several other defensemen. If those doors have all closed or seem too expensive in terms of the assets needed to acquire them, then there is also the route of free agency. Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner, Dan Girardi, and Hunlak make up some of the options available there.

Most of the names being discussed as free agent targets or as trade options fall into one of two categories:

  • Not good enough to play in the Leafs top 4

OR

  • Too Expensive (in terms of contacts or the assets that would be given up via a trade)

This brings me to the main point of this article… I really don’t think we are going to get a top pairing defenseman and, unless one of our defensive prospects develops into one, it may NEVER happen. But that’s okay.

Toronto Maple Leafs and the Cap

Of course, I would love the Leafs to somehow get a top pairing guy, but I’m also not entirely sure we will be able to afford one.

The NHL is evolving quickly and the young stars are getting paid much more, much earlier in their careers. It’s hard to say how much these three guys are going to earn against the cap. Early estimates indicate it will likely be somewhere in the ballpark of $21-30 million (combined AAV against the cap per year). That’s upwards of 40% of the team’s cap (if the cap stays flat at $75 million) and doesn’t include other core pieces of the team like Kadri, Reilly, Zaitsev who are already locked up long term. Then you add in players like Brown, Gardiner and a number of the young prospects that the Toronto Maple Leafs will need to sign over the next few years and you can see that the cap is going to get much tougher to manage in the coming years.

Conclusion

If the Toronto Maple Leafs get that top pairing defenseman that we would love to see patrolling the blue line for years to come, he will likely come with an expensive cap hit that will handcuff this team even more. The team needs to focus on developing from within to build a sustainable team and any contracts coming in (as free agents or trades) should be short term or tradable.

Next: Who Should the Leafs Target as UFAs ??

Also, they need to hold onto as many draft picks as possible because it is inevitable that the team will need a constant influx of young talent on ELCs in order to stay competitive, while remaining under the cap. It is an interesting time for the Leafs and fans should be excited, but getting tied up with any other long term commitments may end up being cap suicide in the long run.

*Credit to capfriendly.com

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