The Toronto Maple Leafs are $3 million over the Salary Cap, despite currently having a significantly worse roster than they ended the season with.
I get that people want to be optimistic, but if you think the Toronto Maple Leafs are better now than they were last month, you are delusional (in the best possible way, because you’re also looking at the positive side of things, and that’s respectable).
There is no way the Leafs are better.
Their blue-line lost Justin Holl, Luke Schenn and Erik Gustufsson. T.J Brodie and Marc Giordano experienced significant age-related decline last year and it will take a miracle for them to maintain the status quo.
All they added was John Klingberg, one of the worst players in the NHL last season.
Toronto Maple Leafs Currently $3 Million Over Cap With Worse Team
On forward, Tyler Bertuzzi is a great addition, but he is replacing a younger player (Bunting) who already has the better career season and who was making 900K vs Bertuzzi’s $5 million.
The only chance the Leafs have of being better in their top-six next year is if Matthew Knies is an instant star as a rookie. Then they are better up front, but the odds of that can’t even be 50/50.
Why the Leafs spent $8 + million they didn't need to spend on Max Domi, Ryan Reaves and John Klingberg while getting significantly worse at every position and still being way over the cap is a mystery no one can ever explain.
— Editor in Leaf (@EditorinLeaf) July 9, 2023
Max Domi is an OK pick-up, but he’s not really any better than Kerfoot, and even if he is, he isn’t better than Kerfoot + Acciari + Ryan O’Reilly.
So the Leafs are worse and that is indisputable.
And they are over the cap by $8+ million, minus Jake Muzzin’s Long-Term Injury erasing his cap-hit, leaving them currently $3 206 450 over the salary cap (All Cap info Capfriendly.com).
The Leafs need to sign Ilya Samsonov, or they have to keep Murray and start Joseph Woll. I don’t hate that idea, but when Murray gets injured, who plays?
The longer this drags out, the easier it is to see them panicking and overpaying to get rid of Murray.
The Toronto Maple Leafs current bottom six likely looks like this:
Domi-Kampf-Jarnkrok
Lafferty – Holmberg – Reaves
Now, that really isn’t good, no matter how you look at it. That will be among the worst bottom-six lineups in the league. There is basically no upside here, and it’s expensive. If the Leafs are lucky, Nick Robertson will be healthy and someone like Fraser Minten, Ty Voit or Roni Hirvonen will force their way onto the team.
For now, this is brutal. The signing of David Kampf gets more idiotic by the day.
This is the most poorly spent $11 million dollars in the NHL.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are way over the cap, their depth is gone, their blue-line is worse, they don’t have a goalie, they don’t have a have a number-one defenseman and their new GM has done horribly so far.
It’s hard to see how this is going to get better.
Brodie, Jarnkrok and Murray can save you $12 million. If you can move them, you’d have $3 million to cover Samsonov, you’d cover the current deficit (they are $3 million over) and have six million left.
If you also then traded William Nylander for a recent top draft pick on an ELC, you would then have enough to bring in Erik Karlsson. That makes the forwards worse, but adds upside and flexibility, while solving both the blue-line and the goalie positions.
Whatever happens, you have to feel bad for Brandon Pridham, because he’s got a rep a “salary cap genius” but his team currently spends almost $20 million on Kampf, Domi, Jarnkrok, Reaves, Lafferty, Klingberg and Murray.
Brad Treliving is struggling and this summer has been brutal for the once promising Toronto Maple Leafs.