There's a path for John Chayka to be cap compliant before the regular season starts, but it also comes with conditions that could affect the rest of the year.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs making a flurry of acquisitions this summer, it's left them with a roster that's locked up through next year, but also put them in a tough cap position. Right now, they can still operate over the cap - of which they are $2.75M over already - but they only have limited time until the seasons starts and they need to be cap compliant.
However there are a few avenues that GM John Chayka can go down to make sure he's cap compliant, though they all come with their own caveats.
The Mathematical Reality of the Max Domi LTIR Placement
Right now, the easiest way to get cap space is by placing Max Domi ($3.75M) on LTIR to start the season. Barring any more moves, that would clear Toronto's $2.75M overage but depending on how they fill the roster out, they may have more or less relief.
With Domi's surgery complications leaving his status a genuine unknown to start the year, we have to wait until training camp before he's evaluated, then we'll know more from there. If he does end up on the LTIR to start the year, it's helpful albeit maybe only temporarily.
The issue being that is if Domi is cleared to play at any time this year and returns, his cap hit no longer becomes relief but instead a burden. They lose the LTIR relief while also needing to now find a spot for a player they didn't envision one for this season which could affect any future moves at the trade deadline.
The Fringe Roster Candidates Forced onto the Waiver Wire
With Domi's LTIR status being up in the air over the course of the season, Toronto has to find ways to cut money and space in case he does return. In that case, there are players who may need to ride the waiver wire in order to make room.
One obvious candidate is Philippe Myers, who no longer has a fit on the blueline and is essentially the 8th defender right now. He only makes $850,000 so it's not a massive amount of relief, but it does allow them to add a new contract down the line.
Another name could be Steven Lorentz as he doesn't have a direct path into the bottom-six now that the team revamped that particular part of the lineup. His $1.35M cap relief would be nice, however his duty as Sergei Bobrovsky's personal shooter and close friend may lead him to stick around given how important Bobrovsky is going to be.
It would be a relief but with the veteran contingent on full display, Lorentz may find himself factored in.
Some others who are eligible for waivers include Bo Groulx ($812,500) and Michael Pezzetta ($812,500) though there aren't too many players they can get rid of who aren't factored into the lineup already. It wouldn't be a ton of relief, but at this point - every dollar counts.
Why the cap deficit makes another scoring addition difficult
Which means the team likely has very little room to add that top-six scorer to round out the lineup so those Patrik Laine to Toronto rumours have much more difficulty coming to fruition.
While Laine would have fit as a nice complement, the Maple Leafs have one final contract spot to use, and they don't have the money to sign him. They have to clear at least that $2.75M to even start negotiations and an incentive-laden offer is still a bit too lucrative.
A league minimum would require Toronto to clear money beyond that $2.75M negative to clear the cap but sign Laine, so unless they can find a Morgan Rielly trade, or dish off a contract like Dakota Joshua's elsewhere - it's less likely.
With no space to work with, Toronto has to wait and see what Domi's status is before they do anything and it may be too late to add Laine, so while the team is certainly interested - it may be nothing more than that and John Chayka has to find a way to be compliant now, and if Domi factors into the lineup.
Did John Chayka and the Maple Leafs overspend on the bottom-six this summer?
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