Toronto Maple Leafs: Assessing Viable Landing Spots for Patrick Marleau
By Kyle Cushman
San Jose
A return to San Jose is the best case scenario for Patrick Marleau, but there’s a slim chance of it happening. San Jose simply doesn’t have the cap space to absorb Marleau’s salary, even if the Leafs were to retain 50% of the hit.
Though the Sharks had lots of room to work with, the re-signing of Erik Karlsson plummets that number down to $14 million with more significant pieces to retain.
Factoring in restricted free agents such as Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc, as well as unrestricted free agents Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton, it will be tough for Doug Wilson to keep all of his players under the cap, let alone bringing back Patrick Marleau.
Simply put, it would be incredibly difficult to work out a deal with the Sharks to bring Marleau back home for a final season. His $6.25-million cap hit is just too much to swallow for a cap-strapped San Jose team. Even a fully retained $3.125 million is tough to accept given the Sharks’ situation.
There are other options for a return to San Jose, however. Just look at a previously mentioned deal from last summer, where Brooks Orpik was bought out after being traded to Colorado in order to return to Washington.
If the Leafs were unable to find a proper deal with one of the teams closer to San Jose, a trade could be finalized to a team that agrees to buy out Marleau’s final year, making him a free agent.
As a 35+ contract, the team buying out Marleau would receive no cap benefits. The team would still be on the hook for $6.25 million for 2019-20, though they would be able to spread the remaining money slightly. A buyout would save $833,333 this year, but cost $416,667 in 2020-21. From a pure cap perspective though, the team would only recoup the contract slot and roster space.
The situation is clear here. If Marleau is to make a final return to San Jose, it will have to come with the help of a third party.