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Toronto Maple Leafs Have Cap Space for a Star Player (Or Two)

By James Tanner

TORONTO, ON - MAY 31: T.J. Brodie #78 and Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs head to the attack against the Montreal Canadiens during Game Seven of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 31, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Map[le Leafs 3-1 to win series 4 games to 3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 31: T.J. Brodie #78 and Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs head to the attack against the Montreal Canadiens during Game Seven of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 31, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Map[le Leafs 3-1 to win series 4 games to 3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have proven to be a deeper team than originally thought, and as such they now have a lot of options for building their roster for the playoffs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs originally looked as if they were going to have to scrape and save just to ice a full NHL team, but a lot of things have broken their way and suddenly they’ve got a lot more flexibility.

Timothy Liljegren appears ready to take on a larger role.  Jake McCabe has gone from unplayable to very good.  Connor Timmins appears to be a real NHL player.  Noah Gregor is useful, and Nick Robertson is practically forcing Sheldon Keefe to play him more.  Even Martin Jones is getting things done.  

Those five players have answered questions this roster had in training camp, and they’ve done so for practically nothing.

So therefore, instead of trying to piece together a playoff roster with multiple acquisitions, the Leafs could focus instead on adding fewer players who are likely to have more of an impact than their cheaper counterparts, because not only do they have less need for new players, they also can have quite a lot of cap space if they want it.

Toronto Maple Leafs Have Cap Space for a Superstar

The Leafs already have $4 million they can spend because John Klingberg is out for the season. I don’t know how long Ryan Reaves is out for, but that could potentially be another $1.3 million they have to spend.

It may be too early to send him to Robidas Island, but it could happen.

Where other cap space can be found is in declining players with large contracts.

Ilya Samsonov makes $3.5 million, and if Joseph Woll is the starter, Martin Jones can backup and the Leafs can add another chunk of change to their bankroll by trading Samsonov.

Since he isn’t signed beyond this year, moving his contract shouldn’t be hard.

That gives the Leafs at least $7.5 million to spend, even if Reaves comes back.  If the Leafs want to get crazy and add even more star-power to their roster, they could move TJ Brodie.

Brodie has declined heavily, and he makes $5 million, and is a UFA after the season.  That could give the Leafs $12 million if they wanted. (cap info capfriendly.com).

Depending on who is available when teams start to get eliminated from playoff contention, the Leafs could add two impact players with that kind of money.

I continue to think Zach Werenski is a great target for the blue-line, though I don’t know how you could pull it off without trading William Nylander.   And Elias Lindholm would be very attractive as a third-line centre.

Next. 10 Blue-Line Trade Targets. dark

Either way, with a lot of cheap players coming through, a couple injuries, and two players who can most likely be easily moved and barely missed, the Toronto Maple Leafs suddenly have a ton of flexibility to improve their team in-season.

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