How Much Cap Space Do the Toronto Maple Leafs Have?

Opening Night

Dermott and Hyman are both expected to miss time at the beginning of the season. It’s completely reasonable to believe the duo could miss the entire first month of the year, which would open up more possibilities for Dubas to work with if the Leafs chose to place them on LTIR.

"View post on imgur.com"

If Dermott and/or Hyman are expected to miss 24 days or 10 games, they are eligible to be placed on LTIR, creating a bit more space for the Leafs to work with if necessary. As it stands for the opening night of the season, Toronto would have just under $10.5 million to work with to sign Mitch Marner or make any other additions with the duo on LTIR.

Again, this projection comes before the expected trades of Zaitsev and Brown. It is a near guarantee that the Toronto Maple Leafs will create more cap space in the coming days.

Unless the Leafs want to throw the likes of Jeremy Bracco and Timothy Liljegren into the fire, play Kasperi Kapanen on his off wing, and play Trevor Moore in the top nine, Dubas will have to make additions to this lineup before the start of the season.

For the offseason, the NHL allows clubs to exceed the salary cap by 10% as well, which could give the Leafs even more room to make additions or match an offer sheet if one were to be signed.

To recap, this is what the Toronto Maple Leafs have to work with:

• Offseason Space with Horton, Hyman, Dermott on LTIR: $18,592,801
• Offseason Space with Horton on LTIR: $17,247,801
• Opening Night Space with Horton, Hyman, Dermott on LTIR: $10,422,801
• Full Strength/Hyman & Dermott not on LTIR: $9,097,801

Needless to say, the Toronto Maple Leafs have some room to work with for now. With Mitch Marner still to sign, additions still to be made, and players to be sent out the door, expect a lot of these projections to swiftly change in the coming days.