TORONTO, ON – DECEMBER 20: Toronto Maple Leafs Center Nazem Kadri (43) celebrates a second period goal with teammates during the regular season NHL game between the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs on December 20, 2018 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON. (Photo by Gerry Angus/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The consensus is that the Toronto Maple Leafs will spend their trade capital and salary cap space on a defenseman before the playoffs.
But what if the Toronto Maple Leafs did something completely different and outside the box?
The Leafs currently have about $10 million in cap space, plus they can go over the limit by about the amount of Nathan Horton’s salary once they hit the cap. They do have to be concerned about bonus overages on their ELC contracts, so there is no way to know exactly how much they have to spend without actually working for the team.
Suffice to say it’s a hell of a lot more than a team with Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares, Kadri, Rielly, Gardiner, Kapanen, Johnsson and Andersen should have.
Here is a step-by-step process of how the Toronto Maple Leafs can go beyond typical NHL thinking and build a super team.