How would the Toronto Maple Leafs be if there was no salary cap?
In the National Hockey League, a salary cap is implemented to even out the playing field in regards to big market teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs compared to small market teams like the Arizona Coyotes. Each team has a limit in how much they can spend in which this year (and last year) the salary cap was set at $81.5 million.
In other sports though like baseball, there is no limit on how much teams can spend although there is a luxury tax. What if this was how spending worked in hockey and there was no salary cap?
If there was a luxury tax instead of a salary cap in hockey, it would really benefit the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not because of the Leafs current cap constraints, but because of how big of a market Toronto is in the hockey world.
Toronto is the biggest hockey market in the world. Toronto is a place that many players dream, wish and hope to play for at the professional level as many players grew up playing in the GTHL and rooting for the Leafs as kids.
Where would they get all this money from?
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) the company that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, is valued at approximately $1.5 billion according to Forbes. In 2019, the Leafs brought in $243 million in revenue.
If there was no salary cap and no limit on how much the Leafs as well as other teams across the league could spend, the Leafs could have built a never ending dynasty like the New York Yankees.
If there was no salary cap, they could basically bring in anyone they wished by offering them lots of money. A player like Steven Stamkos, who was linked to the Leafs when he became a free agent, could have came home and gotten a huge payday but stayed in Tampa due to the fact they could offer an extra year on his contract.
Even this offseason, despite still being available to be signed, they could have already brought in Alex Pietrangelo by offering him a boatload of money. Due to the Leafs cap situation though, they are extremely unlikely to bring Pietrangelo home.
Basically, the Leafs could have outbid almost any team in the league and buy players. They would face some competition though in the New York Rangers (valued at $1.65 billion) and Montreal Canadiens (valued at $1.34 billion) when it comes to free agents. The Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins are also valued at $1 billion or more.
While management may be hesitant to spend more money on players, the better the team is, the more revenue they get in regards to ticket sales, jerseys bought and other amenities.
Despite how much the Leafs would benefit from being free to spend their money, the salary cap isn’t going away anytime soon.