Toronto Maple Leafs Could Start the Season with a 20 Man Roster

According to capfriendly.com, the Toronto Maple Leafs are currently over the salary cap by $1.493 million. It is not something to be worried about in the off-season, but they will need to be cap compliant when the season starts.

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is working on signing young defenseman Rasmus Sandin. Doing so will put the team even more over the cap.

The assumption is that Dubas would like to sign Sandin to a two-year deal similar to the one Timothy Liljegren signed for $1.4 million a season. Sandin has yet to bite and could be holding out for more money. While the team awaits Sandin’s decision, GM Kyle Dubas signed Victor Mete and Jordie Benn as depth and insurance. Toronto has left Sandin with very few bargaining chips.

Should Sandin remain unsigned by the start of the 2022-23 season, Toronto could shed enough salary from their current roster to be cap compliant. However, this would mean the team would have to use only 20 players. The maximum roster size is 23 players, but Toronto doesn’t have enough cap space for even 21 players. Unless the Toronto Maple Leafs make a trade, starting the season with 20 players could be their only option.

Toronto Maple Leafs 20-Man Roster

Using the armchair GM mode on capfriendly.com, if Toronto sends Kyle Clifford and Nick Abruzzese down to the AHL, they become cap compliant. By removing Clifford ($762,500) and Abruzzese ($850,000), Toronto will have a 20-man roster with just $19,384 available in cap space. A more significant roster move would be needed once Sandin re-signs, but best to worry about that when the time comes.

The opening night roster would consist of 12 forwards, six defensemen, and two goaltenders. As you can see, it is the bare minimum. Toronto would need to hope no minor injuries happen. A player not being placed on LTIR would hurt the team as there’s not enough cap space to call up another player. The team would only receive cap relief if a player got hurt bad enough to place them on LTIR.

Here is what Toronto’s opening night roster could look like if they only use 20 players.

Michael Bunting, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner
Alex Kerfoot, John Tavares, William Nylander
Pierre Engvall, David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok
Wayne Simmonds, Adam Gaudette, Nicholas Aube-Kubel

Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie
Mark Giordano, Timothy Liljegren
Jake Muzzin, Justin Holl

Matt Murray
Ilya Samsonov

I don’t think this is the best solution, but it could be Toronto’s only option. For Sandin to join the team, the Maple Leafs will need to make a trade at some point. We will wait to see what happens between now and the start of the regular season.