Many fans want Ben Danford to make his Maple Leafs debut but even if they wanted to call him up, the NHL has a rule that's making it impossible.
As the Maple Leafs navigate their injury woes this season, many fans are wondering when it is going to be Ben Danford's time with the team.
The top defensive prospect has been very solid as part of the Marlies, and his journey to the NHL feels like a when, not if, type of scenario. Some are wondering if he holds the key to solving Toronto's defensive issues and be the person who can steady things on the blue line.
No doubt he would at least offer some extra youth and mobility on the back end and you're just delaying the inevitable at this point.
CBA's tagging rules once again come back to haunt Toronto
But as much as fans want him to be part of things now, it's the NHL themselves preventing that from happening until Toronto fixes their finances.
Due to the NHL's tagging rules, the Maple Leafs can't make any moves that involve players with future cap hits unless they move money out. Right now, they have $625,000 in tagging space available.
Danford's entry level contract comes at a cap hit of $936,056 which is well over their allotted space, and without moving money out past 2027-28, they can't make many more moves.
Basically, Toronto has too much money invested in 2027-28 contracts and would need to move out one of those deals to offset the tagging restrictions. It's a tough road to navigate, and it cost the Maple Leafs already this season.
Tagging rules already hurt Toronto's defensive depth in 2026-27
The CBA hasn't been too kind to the Maple Leafs this season, as it was a huge reason why the Kirill Marchenko-Matthew Knies blockbuster was delayed for so long.
Toronto needed to add Emil Andrae to the mix in order to offset the tagging restrictions, and because they signed Marchenko to an extension, he cuts in heavily to their tagging amount - he's signed through 2027-28.
It's also why Toronto decided to take on Elvis Merzlikins' contract as well, because he was a free agent with no commitment past 2026-27. He was going on LTIR anyways so it was meant as a means to open up cap space, add some more allotment flexibility, and allow Columbus to get rid of a bad deal.
Right now, the team could certainly use Andrae given how much their blue line has dropped due to injuries recently, and it's the same reason why it's so frustrating that Danford couldn't come up even if the team wanted him to.
The CBA has bitten the Maple Leafs twice this year already, and let's hope the next time around it doesn't make things even harder for John Chayka.
Are you frustrated that the NHL CBA is preventing the Maple Leafs from calling up Ben Danford?
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