The Toronto Maple Leafs Officially Have No Salary Cap Issues

The ability to sign Travis Dermott to such a low contract saved the Toronto Maple Leafs from any salary cap issues.

Toronto Maple Leafs critics have argued about salary cap constraints over the past few months but the signing of Travis Dermott solved all problems.

The young defenseman took less money than Rasmus Sandin ($874,125) and will once again be a Restricted Free Agent after this season is over. Betting on yourself is a tough thing to do in professional sports, but it’s a smart move for the local-kid to continue playing for his hometown team.

When it comes to the salary cap, I can see how people are critical towards the core-four making so much money, but that’s how it works. You have to pay your best players, or they’ll end up playing for another team. After decades of losing and having Tyler Bozak as the star centre, I never understand why anyone wouldn’t want to “overpay” (I also don’t think they’re overpaid) a few superstars what they’re worth.

Now, the Leafs have two Hall-of-Fame centres and people still get mad. Anyways, by signing Dermott to a team-friendly deal, the Leafs don’t have to do much to stay salary cap compliant.

Let’s take a look.

Leafs Will Be Salary Cap Compliant Thanks to Waiver Exemptions

If we look at how the Leafs roster is constructed, it’s a work of art. The ability to combine exceptional talent, veterans, and good rookies on Entry Level Contracts is brilliant.

Below is what the Leafs line-up could look like, and the players in bold are waiver-exempt.

Forwards:

• Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
• Ilya Mikheyev – John Tavares – William Nylander
• Jimmy Vesey – Alex Kerfoot – Nick Robertson/Alex Barabanov
• Jason Spezza – Joe Thornton/Travis Boyd/Pierre Engvall – Wayne Simmonds

Defense: 

• Morgan Rielly – TJ Brodie
• Jake Muzzin – Justin Holl
• Mikko Lehtonen – Travis Dermott
• Rasmus Sandin – Zach Bogosian

Assuming that the Toronto Maple Leafs send Travis Boyd down, with hopes he’ll clear waivers, the team really only has to worry about one forward position and two defenseman spots to have the minimum 20-man roster (12 forwards, six defenseman and two goaltenders).

In order for the money to work, unless a defenseman gets injured, the Leafs would most likely only have Lehtonen or Sandin on the main roster at one time. Since both are waiver exempt, the team can do some paperwork and send either player down to the Marlies with no worries of another team picking them up.

The same thing applies with Robertson, Engvall and Barabanov. The Toronto Maple Leafs can have at least one of these three players on the roster at all times and can keep rotating whichever one they want more into the line-up. The team could very well have two of the three forwards in the line-up at the same time as well, as long as they sent both waiver-exempt defenseman down too.

I know it may be a little tricky to follow, but it’s much more simpler than it seems. The Leafs are currently $1.049M over the salary cap (without doing anything), but by sending one defenseman and one forward down, the team would actually be compliant by a minimum of $666K, while having 20 players dressed.

In the salary-cap world that we live in, these players on the cusp of the roster should understand what’s happening and even though they may get called up and down 20 times throughout the season, it’s just paperwork. The players will still be involved with the big club, even if they’re down with the Marlies because both team’s practice out of the same facility. It’s not like the player has to move to a new city every time they get “sent down” anymore.

We can now stop talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs being over the salary cap. Technically they are right now, but once they start playing games, they’ll be fine.