Toronto Maple Leafs Must Now Get Under the Salary Cap

The Toronto Maple Leafs received the arbitration results with restricted free agent Ilya Samsonov, which will see the Russian goalie earn a salary of $3.55 Million for the upcoming season.

With the results of the contract, the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to CapFriendly.com, are nearly $12.4 Million over the $83.5 Million NHL cap.

GM Brad Treliving will now have some work to do to get the team complaint.

The first move is the obvious and that is putting Jake Muzzin on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR), which would remove his $5.625 Million cap hit.  This would drop the number down to roughly $6.775 Million over the maximum amount.

Toronto Maple Leafs Must Now Get Under the Salary Cap

While many people have stated that buying out Matt Murray’s contract or also placing him on LTIR is a choice, this may not to be an option.  Murray’s health had improved by the end of the playoffs and it appeared that the only reason he was not starting was that Sheldon Keefe had more confidence in Joseph Woll.

With Murray’s health improvement, you would have to believe that he would need to have some sort of giant set back in his off-season workouts to make him eligible for LTIR.

In regards to a buyout, the problem is that with his injury history he may not be eligible out due to a stipulation in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Last week,  Elliott Friedman stated on NHL Network that he wasn’t sure if the Maple Leafs were going to be able to buy him out due to his injury history, but he was unable to be confirm if that was an option or a concern.

Whether the buyout is an option or not, Murray’s contract will have to be moved from the Maple Leafs roster.  The club will be going ahead with Samsonov and Joseph Woll for the upcoming season, so having Murray around is not an option.

Currently Murray’s cap hit comes at nearly $4.69 Million for the upcoming season.  If they are able to buy him out, the Maple Leafs would be left with of 688K for the upcoming season, along with a $2 Million cap hit in 2024-25.  The buyout would leave the team still roughly $2 Million over the cap, while a full out trade or LTIR would put them down to $1.3 Million over.

A hurdle that comes with a trade is that Murray’s contract was backloaded and has the Maple Leafs still owing him $6 Million (Ottawa is paying $2 Million) for the upcoming season.

Most teams that would typically be looking to take on Murray’s contract would prefer less money owing than what the cap hit has, which Murray poses the opposite.  If the Maple Leafs look to trade Murray, they would have to add a substantial sweetener to the deal.

No matter what happens with Murray, Treliving will still need to be creative to get under the cap.  What other options would he have?

One move that would get close but not quite get them under the cap is placing Dylan Gambrell on waivers and sent to the Toronto Marlies.  Gambrell was a free agent signing that was given a one-way contract and is a depth signing.  His $775,000 salary would fully get buried and get them almost under the cap, but something else would need to happen.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Make Trade

No matter what happens above, it appears as though the Treliving will have to make a trade and their only seems two options that appear on the table.

One route is trading TJ Brodie who has one-year left on his contract that carries a cap hit of $5 Million, however like Murray’s contract is backloaded.  The veteran defenseman is owed $7.5 Million throughout the season and has a ten team no trade clause.

There is a chance that Treliving could acquire an asset in return for Brodie, but the salary would be something that would turn a lot of teams away.  While he is an asset to almost every team, an owner may not want to pay him $7.5 Million.

Treliving could chose to buyout Brodie, but that would carry a $2.5 Million cap hit for each of the next two seasons.  If he does that, you would have to consider that signing John Klingberg actually cost the team his $4.1 Million salary, plus Brodie’s buyout for the next two seasons.

The second option is trading William Nylander.

There is no secret that Nylander and the Toronto Maple Leafs are far apart on contract talks for an extension.  The 40-goal scoring winger was paid a $3.5 Million bonus on July 1, which leaves just $2.5 Million owed to him for the remainder of the season with a nearly $7 Million cap hit.  Each of these details make him a huge asset to the team.

The problem with this avenue is that the Maple Leafs would be taking a huge step backwards.  They would not be able to take a quality player back in return as they need the cap space, while also losing a lock for 30+ goals.

Treliving has some work to do and no matter what route he takes, the Maple Leafs look to lose a key piece of their team.

It appears that the signings of Klingberg and Max Domi forces the team to lose either Nylander or Brodie for pennies on the dollar.