The NHL announced that the salary-cap will rise substantially over the next three years, which means the Toronto Maple Leafs can now sign Connor McDavid to a massive contract.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are about to gain a ton of salary cap space over the next three years. As it currently stands, the Leafs are projected to have the following amount of cap-space available for the next three offseason's: $29.628M, $46.4M and $61.320M.
The team still has the ability to re-sign Matthew Knies, Mitch Marner and John Tavares if they want to fill some of that cap-space, but the fact that they have that much money, while already having William Nylander and Auston Matthews signed is a huge bonus. With all of that money available, the Leafs are going to feel like Macaulay Culkin in Blank Check, so what are they going to do with all that cash?
If you're unaware, no player in the NHL can make more than 20 percent of the salary-cap, which means the maximum amount of money that a player can make next year is an estimated $19.1M. That number would jump to $20.8M in 2026, then $22.7M in 2027.
If you're a pending UFA, or have one or two year's left on your contract, you're laughing at the amount of money you may be able to make. However, as much as the salary-cap is rising, there are only a handful of players in the NHL that will be able to make anywhere near the maximum, with one of those being Connor McDavid, who happens to be a pending UFA after next season.
In theory, the Edmonton Oilers have the ability to sign McDavid to an eight-year deal worth $152.8M, making him the richest man in hockey.
McDavid Should Sign With the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Oilers are the only team that can give him an eight-year deal, but that doesn't neccesarily matter when he's so good. LeBron James has been signing one-year deals forever now because he knows that's the best way to maximize his salary. Sure, there's a possibility that he could get hurt and that guaranteed money would be smarter, but he's been a beneficiary of that risk for year's.
With McDavid set to become a free agent this year, there's a chance that he may want to do the same. Just look at Auston Matthews for example. He signed a four-year contract last year because he knew that he'd be able to make close to double the amount of money by the end of that term. If he locked into that $13.25M deal for eight years, it could have very well cost him roughly $40-50M, as he could be a $20-25M player on the open market in 2028.
If you're the Oilers, you obviously want to lock McDavid up as long as you can, but what if he's not willing to do that? What if McDavid wants to max out his deal this year and then continue to do the same year-after-year until they have more projetctions of the cap?
Well, that's where the Leafs jump in. We all know that McDavid would love to play in Toronto, so wouldn't you offer him a one year deal at $19.1M, or a three-year deal worth $57.3M? The team can clearly afford it now and then it would set up McDavid to make the most amount of money possible on the open market in three years.
If McDavid is worried about winning, he has just as good of an opportunity to win in Toronto versus Edmonton and speaking of LeBron James, this could be his Miami Heat, "I'm taking my talents to South Beach" moment. It would break the internet and make Toronto the most hated franchise in sports, which I would love.
I'm sure this will never happen, but a boy can dream. McDavid playing with the Leafs would be the biggest moment in hockey since Wayne Gretzky went to Los Angeles.