Why the Maple Leafs are well over the salary cap — and the cuts that need to be made - The Athletic
Two moves I’m anticipating before the season starts will be Hakanpää and Dewar starting the year on long-term injured reserve, which will allow the Leafs to exceed the salary cap for as long as they’re out.
LTIR would mean both players have to miss the first 10 games and 24 days of the season, something that makes a lot of sense for Hakanpää
given the extensive knee issues he’s dealing with. Dewar’s injury timeline is less clear, but given he’s yet to do much in camp, we’ll assume they’ll slow play his return.
Those two moves would bring the Leafs to within $1.07 million of the cap and needing to only make one more cut.
The most obvious manouevre I can see to get compliant would be to place Conor Timmins on waivers, freeing up another $1.1 million, and using Marlies standout Marshall Rifai as the seventh defenceman.
Remaining cap space?
$30,033, or enough to easily afford a new Nissan Versa with some nice add-ons.
I’m not certain why capologist Brandon Pridham would leave an extra $30,333, but it could always end up being included in Pacioretty’s deal, which is awaiting some of the final cap machinations this week before they put pen to paper.
On that front, I believe it’s also possible Pacioretty gets some additional 35-plus contract bonuses added in, similar to the ones he had last season with the Capitals (albeit not to the tune of $2 million for playing 20 games). But those don’t necessarily have to count against the cap this season. More on that in a second.
Even with the injuries, it’s a good-looking roster to start the season, with some quality forward depth in the 13th and 14th holes to fight for minutes or replace banged-up players.
If this is how the Leafs start the season, what it does is buy them some more time to see how some players settle in. It pushes the decision on someone like Nick Robertson, for example, into the second month of the season, allowing Berube to play him in games that matter and contemplate if there’s an established role for him in the top nine or not.