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Gunnarsson Deal Doesn't Cause Salary Cap Squeeze; Leafs Find ECHL Affiliate

July 23, 2013, 12:59 PM ET [857 Comments]
Mike Augello
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Maple Leafs re-signing of defenseman Carl Gunnarsson Monday not only avoided the uncertain result of a salary arbitration hearing later this week, it locked up a steady defensive defenseman at a reasonable salary for three years.

Gunnarsson had one goal and 14 assists in 37 games for Toronto in 2013 and played effectively through a nagging hip injury for most of the season. The 26 year-old blueliner was the most effective partner for Dion Phaneuf, frequently giving the Leafs team captain cover to take more offensive forays.

With the majority of the Leafs defensemen more offensive minded, the re-signing of the stay-at-home Gunnarsson with four years of NHL experience under his belt was a necessity.

The three year, $9.45 Million deal has a cap hit of $3.15 Million per season, with the defenseman receiving $2.85 Million in 2013-14, $3.15 Million in 2014-15 and $3.45 Million in 2015-16. The cap number is on par with deals signed earlier in the month by defensemen who play a similar style of game(Pittsburgh’s Rob Scuderi = 4 years @ $3.375 Million, Edmonton’s Andrew Ference = 4 years @ $3.25 Million).

There is some concern that the Leafs will be up against the $64.3 Million salary cap limit. Per Cap Geek, the Leafs have $6.57 Million in cap space remaining to get three remaining restricted free agents; Mark Fraser, Nazem Kadri and Cody Franson under contract, but the club has a little more room to work with.

The current cap hit includes the one-way deal of forward Trevor Smith, defenseman Korbinian Holzer and TJ Brennan, which totals $1.93 Million, who could be sent to the AHL before the start of the regular season.

If these players are demoted, no part of their salary will count against Toronto’s salary cap, since they are all less than the $900,000 limit for burying player salaries.




It also remains a possibility that Leafs GM Dave Nonis will pull off another deal before the beginning of training camp in mid-September.

The two most likely candidates to be moved are defenseman John-Michael Liles and winger Nikolai Kulemin.

Liles has three years left on his deal at $3.875 Million per season, but has valuable qualities as a puck moving blueliner and power play quarterback. Kulemin has one year remaining at $2.8 Million before becoming an unrestricted free agent and could be replaced on the Leafs checking line by a more cost effective free agent signing or a prospect within the organization.

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The Leafs announced on Monday that they have agreed to an affiliation with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, sharing the affiliation with the Minnesota Wild.

“The Leafs are extremely pleased to have the Orlando Solar Bears as our new ECHL affiliate,” said Leafs GM Dave Nonis in a press release. “Our organization feels that Orlando will be a terrific environment for our prospects to continue their hockey development.”

The Solar Bears compete in the South Division of the Eastern Conference of the 22-team league. Last season the Bears posted a record of 28 wins, 37 losses, 3 OTL and 4 shootout losses.
Toronto went without an ECHL affiliation during the 2012-13 season after their agreement with the Reading Royals expired, dispersing a number of players to Las Vegas, South Carolina, San Francisco, Idaho and various other ECHL franchises.


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