Brad Treliving and the Maple Leafs Set to Face Salary Cap Penalty Next Season

It's been a rough season for Max Pacioretty to say the least. Signed this past offseason to a PTO, he impressed enough in training camp and earned a one-year deal. He looked really good at times, but injuries derailed his year and he's been on the shelf since mid-February.

While he can definitely return in the playoffs, there are questions about where he fits and if the team wants to take a chance on putting him in after a two-month absence.

It's a bit frustrating for the team, but there isn't much they can do. While it wasn't a great year for Pacioretty, he ended up with a decent stat line, and without injuries could have been a much more impactful player this year.

But he's going to have an impact next season, even if he doesn't play for Toronto. Due to his improved performance, Pacioretty triggered some bonuses in his contract which will in turn lose the Maple Leafs north of $600k.

The contract stated that Pacioretty would earn two separate bonuses for reaching the 10, and 35 game threshold. He barely slipped in with 35 on the dot, and the team is going to be paying the price next year regardless.

Sure, it's not a huge amount of money but it's still hindering Brad Treliving on his quest to re-sign Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies; not to mention any other re-signings or new faces being brought in this summer.

Pacioretty coming back for the playoffs wouldn't be the worst thing in the Maple Leafs' world but it does mess with the successful continent they've put out the last month or so and the team has been incredible with 13 wins in their last 16.

In those 35 games this season, he's put up 13 points (5G, 8A) which is a bit of a regression from last year but could have equaled his 23-point output last year if injury luck had gone his way.

While it might be the first and last time that Max Pacioretty outs on a Maple Leafs jersey in his career, there's no doubt he was still a vital part of the lineup when healthy and deserved better.

It just sucks Toronto is going to pay the price for taking a chance on him, and a rough end to a great comeback story.