Thin Free Agent Market Could Push Maple Leafs Toward Controversial Offseason Strategy
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
With a shrinking free agent list, the Toronto Maple Leafs may end up doing something that may make fans a bit peeved; and it involves not making a splash as some had hoped the team would.
Fans are hoping that the Maple Leafs end up finding their replacement for Mitch Marner, or at least figure out some type of alternative to losing arguably their most important player last season.
There are names being floated around like Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand, Brock Boeser and even older veterans like Claude Giroux and Patrick Kane might end up garnering some serious attention.
Toronto might hold onto their cap for next year: James Mirtle
However, there is a chance that the team doesn't really do much this summer and decides to keep their excess cap for next year when there is a much higher level of free agent talent potentially available including Connor McDavid.
That's what NHL Insider James Mirtle believes, and speaking on the JD Bunkis podcast on Monday, explained that Brad Treliving may end up holding onto his money in the hopes of landing a massive fish next season.
The Maple Leafs currently have $25,709,001 in cap space with Matthew Knies and John Tavares' deals still needing to be figured out. However, those deals may end up taking about half of that money alone; so if they were to splurge they can only really afford one big name.
They could also ship out contracts like Max Domi, David Kampf or even Morgan Rielly's (though the latter seems extremely unlikely) but it isn't going to be easy to find takers; though with a thin center market perhaps a team will bite.
Why Toronto should hold their cap for next year
But if they hold that cash, and let's say for argument's sake that Toronto spends just a bit over half of that extra money. That leaves them about $10-million in excess to add to the projected $43-million they'll have next summer thanks to the rising cap and some of their contracts expiring.
Having $53-million as one of the premier teams in the league, with two superstars locked down; who's to say someone like McDavid or even Cale Makar couldn't feasibly be interested in joining and becoming heroes in the city?
Plus, this year can be seen as a transition year with Marner leaving, and the team undergoing an identity change.
Craig Berube needs certain players to make his system work, and finding those pieces are going to be harder now than with a much larger pool of players next year.
Signing some cheap role players for a year in order to maximize who they bring in next year may be Toronto's best bet. It might not be what the fans want, but a bit more patience may end up paying off huge in the long-run.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 24 | 522 ANSWERS Thin Free Agent Market Could Push Maple Leafs Toward Controversial Offseason Strategy Should the Maple Leafs sit on their salary cap and save, or end up splurging this offseason? | ||
| Save it! | 240 | 46 % |
| Spend it! | 282 | 54 % |
| List of polls | ||
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