Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas and many other GMs from around NHL got some good news on Wednesday.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke with Sportsnet and told them that he is optimistic the salary cap will increase significantly after the 2023-24 season.
The significant increase will happen when the Toronto Maple Leafs need to re-sign Auston Matthews. Timing is everything, and the timing for this increase couldn’t be more perfect.
The 2023-24 season is the last year on Matthews’ current contract. Toronto will be willing to pay him whatever he wants. With the salary cap going up by more than $1 million as it has been recently, paying Matthews top dollar will be easier. Matthews’ next contract will be around $15 million a season. The unknown is how much does “significant” mean? I think it means the cap will go up by $5 million or more.
In terms of salary cap numbers, the cap will be $83.5 million for the 2023-24 season. So, an increase of $5 million – $7 million for the 2024-25 season would give teams between $88.5 million – $90.5 million to spend. The Toronto Maple Leafs currently have four players from this season’s roster signed for the 2024-25 season. Their roster numbers will change by then, but I don’t see Toronto having trouble re-signing Matthews.
(salary cap info from capfriendly.com)
The 2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs Will be Much Different
Toronto currently has around $53 million available for the 2024-25 season.
However, that’s their total with an NHL salary cap of $84.5 million.
If the NHL raises the salary cap to $90 million, Toronto will have around $58.5 million to spend. Kyle Dubas and his staff must be looking forward to extra cap space. Getting Matthews re-signed is priority number one.
They will have plenty of other signings and re-signings to do.
Other notable Toronto Maple Leafs’ free agents that summer will be William Nylander (UFA) and Timothy Liljegren (RFA).
Around the NHL, players such as Steven Stamkos, Noah Hanifin, and Sebastian Aho will be looking for new deals. It will be interesting to see what happens between now and then.
I think Toronto will still have Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Michael Bunting, and Morgan Rielly on their 2024-25 team.
The rest of the team will be much different than the 2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs. Whoever is on the team in 2024-25, I expect the team to be competitive and be a Stanley Cup contender.
Winning a championship before then would be ideal, but if they haven’t, I want to see them challenging for one.