The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to upgrade their blue line, but few teams are willing to help them clear the cap space to do it. According to David Pagnotta of Daily Faceoff Live, the Leafs have been shopping forwards Dakota Joshua and Miles Wood, among a couple of other potential names. So far, they’ve not had any luck finding a taker.
Is this about the players or the Maple Leafs?
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The Cap Issue Facing the Maple Leafs
As much as teams might see Joshua or Wood as spare parts that may not help, this isn’t necessarily about the players themselves. The problem is next season’s cap.
Toronto’s projected roster for 2027-28 is already up against the ceiling, so any player they add with term has to be offset by moving out salary that runs beyond this year. Other teams have recognized that Toronto is drowning in the cap-tagging waters, and they’re not rushing to throw them a lifeline.
Joshua and Wood both have contracts that extend past this season, which makes them harder to move. And because the defencemen Toronto has targeted also carry term, the Leafs can’t take one on without clearing space first.
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“It limits what [Toronto’s] trying to do. It limits what they want to do,” Pagnotta said.
Co-host Jeff Marek joked that it seemed like nobody wants to help the Maple Leafs out.
A Big No-Go On Simon Edvinsson
Pagnotta also brought up Simon Edvinsson as player the Maple Leafs would love to add and might have been targeting. His situation in Detroit is coming to a head and he has until December 1 to sign or he can’t play this season. The Leafs would love to get in on him, but his contract situation means they can’t. At least, not without major salary cap juggling.
He is an example of how tight things are. Toronto couldn’t fit his cap hit this season, given that he’d need a new lucrative deal if acquired and signed this season. Subsequently, adding $9-$10 million to next year’s books isn’t realistic either. That means dumping salary first, and teams aren’t taking on Toronto’s cap problems without a big sweetener attached.
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The Maple Leafs Are Stuck
The Maple Leafs are essentially stuck. They can only acquire players on expiring deals that fit their current cap, or they can move out a player with term first. Even then, they’d have to shed a lot of salary to pull off a blockbuster.
Should fingers be pointed at GM John Chayka for walking them into this mess? Does it fall on former GM Brad Treliving? How did the Leafs get here and what pathway do they have to get out if no teams are willing to come to their aid and take on their less-than-ideal contracts?
And, even if they choose to pivot and focus on a player with an expiring deal, is there anyone on the market who would be worth pursuing and help the Maple Leafs pick up more points in the standings?
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Maple Leafs Cap Crunch Means a No-Go on Top Blue Line Target appeared first on HEAVY.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
