7. Covid Hurts the Leafs More Than Any Team
The Covid Pandemic led to a flat salary cap that didn't go up for four years, and while each and every NHL team was affected, there was one team that was affected the most.
Do I even need to say which team?
The Toronto Maple Leafs were a very exciting team in 2019 but things got off to a rough start and Mike Babcock was fired in one of the most surprising turn of events in team history.
Sheldon Keefe came in and things were quickly back on track.....until the season was abruptly put on hold and the world was thrust into chaos. Obviously there were a lot worse things going on back then than what happened to a hockey team, but given we're talking about the Leafs, it should not come as any surprise that they were the NHL team hurt the most by the pandemic.
The reason is the timing of the Leafs star players needing new contracts.
A year before, the Leafs gave out the biggest UFA contract in history to John Tavares. The reason they felt comfortable doing this with new contracts coming up for Matthews, Marner and Nylander was because the NHL salary cap was expected to sky-rocket after the 19-20 season, due to the convergence of three separate money makers for the NHL.
The NHL was expanding, gambling was now legal and a new TV deal was on the horizon. These three things were each supposed to send the salary cap straight up. Unfortunately, those three things just ended up helping the league stay in business rather than making it extremely rich.
The pandemic froze the cap at the worst possible time for the Toronto Maple Leafs. "We can, and we will" turned into "we can't afford a better defenseman or goalie."
The fact that the Leafs were a competitive team the entire time the cap was flat, even once having the NHL's best roster in 2023, shows that GM Kyle Dubas was right to employ the Studs and Duds Salary Cap Strategy. The fact that the Leafs almost won regardless is impressive, but it only leads to further cries of "What If?"