Maple Leafs get an unexpected injection of cash to sign Nikita Kucherov with

Elliotte Friedman revealed how much the NHL salary cap is going to increase, and the timing couldn't be better for the Maple Leafs and Nikita Kucherov.

There's been a lot of talk about the Maple Leafs' pursuit of Nikita Kucherov after the Lightning forward decided he wanted out of Tampa Bay and requested a trade last week.

That sparked a firestorm of speculation and while the Maple Leafs certainly don't hold a lot of assets, they are a team that Kucherov has keen interest in joining. If a trade doesn't materialize, he does become a free agent on July 1 - making it a little easier to bring him in.

NHL salary cap increase plays perfectly into Toronto's future plans

If that's the case, and Kucherov decides to hit free agency, then it is going to be the perfect storm for Toronto come July because according to Elliotte Friedman: Toronto has the cash to make it happen.

Friedman revealed on Spittin' Chiclets last week that the NHL salary cap is going to jump considerably next year, and while there's a chance it could even out - that initial jump is what's going to make waves:

The cap is going up to 127.5 [million] next year; the league really believes it's gonna flatten out at some point, they do, the Player's Association feels differently, we'll see who's right.

Currently, the NHL salary cap sits at $104-million and while Puckpedia has projections for next year to be at $113.5-million; Friedman's predictions skip right to 2028-29's projected cap amount.

With that in mind, the Maple Leafs are going to have an influx of cash to be able to bring in Kucherov, and would be able to still afford any contracts past 2027-28 because of how it's structured.

In the summer of 2028 they are going to have a ton of expiring deals which won't affect Kucherov's cap hit going forward.

Toronto can't overspend on Kucherov without a plan for Auston Matthews

They also have stars locked up for him to play with like William Nylander, Kirill Marchenko, and John Tavares, though they will need to keep in mind that three important contracts need attention too.

First and foremost, the Maple Leafs have to see what Auston Matthews is going to do. He can sign an extension this summer and the jury's still out on whether he's sticking around.

If he is, then you are going to be dedicating a lot of cap space to his deal that is likely to be much higher than his current $13.25M AAV, and could be looking at $16-17M per season especially with his resurgence this year.

On top of that, Toronto needs extensions for both Easton Cowan and Gavin McKenna, and need to lock down their young pieces long-term which is going to cost a lot too - we could see $10M AAV's on their next deals and it wouldn't be a surprise.

At the end of the day, the ability to sign Kucherov is certainly possible but it all depends on how the Maple Leafs decide to approach their pending extensions because they may not have the space for him when all is said and done.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Former Maple Leafs defenseman hits waivers weeks after being traded