Maple Leafs quietly hit 50-contract limit with training camp days away

Earlier today, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Brendan Brisson, which has officially put them up against the 50-contract limit imposed by the NHL.

With just 27 games of NHL experience and nine points to his name, Brendan Brisson is not a sure thing to make the Maple Leafs roster this season.

Instead, he is someone who is likely to end up with the Toronto Marlies when the season starts. However, this does not absolve the Leafs of a contract limit that they are now officially running up against.

Sending a player to the Marlies won't solve Toronto's contract-limit problem

The NHL has a 50-contract limit that is very different from the salary cap. A franchise cannot have more than 50 contracts going at one time. Not all 50 contracts count against the salary cap. This is because the majority of these contracts belong to players in the AHL.

A player can be sent to the minors and stop counting against the NHL's roster limit and Salary Cap. However, they are still under the 50-contract franchise limit.

Before signing Brisson, Toronto sat at 49 standard contracts. His deal filled the final slot, putting the Leafs at the NHL maximum of 50.

Just because Brisson is placed on waivers or demoted doesn't mean his contract is no longer counted by the league. Even if he never makes the Leafs roster, he still takes up a valuable slot.

Ultimately, the concept is simple. Toronto can clear roster space much more easily than it can clear a contract slot.

Toronto's 50th contract turns every late camp addition into a subtraction decision

If Toronto wants to add another standard player contract, one contract has to come off the books first, most realistically through a trade or another transaction that actually removes that SPC from the club's 50-contract total.

With training camp on the horizon, a PTO, a waiver claim, or a late free-agent signing becomes a whole lot more difficult to add.

Toronto's cap crunch is still the louder problem, but the 50-contract limit creates a second one underneath it. Chayka can still make moves, but every new NHL contract now requires him to decide which existing one he is willing to move out first.

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