3 Takeaways from the Toronto Maple Leafs Year-End Press Conference

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 09: Nick Foligno #71 of the Columbus Blue Jackets scores a empty net goal at 19:37 as Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 09, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

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SUNRISE, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 27: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

#1. They’re Not Up Against the Salary Cap

There were a number of things said during everyone’s press conferences, but this has to be one of the more interesting comments:

Kyle Dubas: "We're not up against the cap, contrary to everyone's belief."
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) August 12, 2020

Although, I can agree with Dubas’ comments because they’re not at the cap-ceiling right now, am I missing something?

The Leafs projected salary cap for 2020-21 season is $76.9 million, which means they have about $4.5 million for eight roster spots. Even if all eight of those players make the league minimum, there’s not enough money to spare.

Pierre Engvall and Jake Muzzin already got a raise (roughly $2 million between them) and if the Leafs wanted to re-sign Ilya Mikheyev, Travis Dermott and Kyle Clifford, all three of them would be expecting raises too.

The team has too many players making big numbers, so in order to solve the issue that Dubas doesn’t think he has, he’s going to have to make a few trades.

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